


Predestined

by minorities



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Artificial Insemination, Cute Kids, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Other, Romance, Slow Burn, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:53:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29060082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minorities/pseuds/minorities
Summary: Claire and Frank Randall are now hopeful that through an artificial insemination procedure from an unknown sperm donor, they could finally have the family they have always dreamed of. But when their happy marriage slips away and Frank leaves her and their daughters for good, she moves on from her gloomy life in London and settles down in Boston, where she chances upon a Scottish forest kindergarten teacher named Jamie Fraser. In a brand new world, Claire, Faith and Brianna do not only discover good company, but also a truth that would affect their lives greatly.A modern-setting Outlander fic where a lab mix-up brings Jamie and Claire together.
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp & Faith Fraser, Claire Beauchamp & Jamie Fraser & Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie, Claire Beauchamp/Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie, Claire Beauchamp/Dougal MacKenzie, Claire Beauchamp/Fergus Fraser, Claire Beauchamp/Frank Randall, Claire Beauchamp/Geillis Duncan, Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser, Faith Fraser/Jamie Fraser, Fergus Fraser/Jamie Fraser, Jamie Fraser & Murtagh Fraser, Jamie Fraser/Brianna Randall Fraser MacKenzie, Jamie Fraser/Lord John Grey, Jamie Fraser/Marsali MacKimmie Fraser
Comments: 177
Kudos: 194





	1. Let Your Faith Ascend

**Author's Note:**

> The summary says it all! I guess the thrill of this work would come in the journey towards that conclusion.

_August 2018._

The faint, yet distinctive scent of burning candles filled the air as Claire marched in the middle of the almost-empty Westminster Cathedral. Even as she walked with her head down, both eyes focused on every step she made to the altar, she could tell she had company by hearing the audible brushing of fabric against a kneeler, and the loud sneeze that echoed throughout the giant, Neo-byzantine edifice. It was already nearing closing time, she thought, seeing that some of the lights by the front of the hollow hall were being flicked off. The hushing of the chandeliers now becoming a subtle notice to every churchgoer to hasten their prayers and bring it to a close for the night.

Claire immediately shuffled to the nearest pew and knelt down, not wanting to waste precious time. The past hours, or days, or weeks (even she had not kept track of the time and tears) had been nothing but cruel and painful, almost too much to handle, and in times of great sorrow this cathedral has always been her haven of consolation, not much on the relics and statues that ought to make God's presence be known to every churchgoer, but more on the weight that this place has brought in her heart. All the heaviness of the incident many years ago—that one Sunday morning when her parents, already on their way to pick her up from Quentin Lambert Beauchamp's house, strolled out of Westminster's first Sunday Mass and skidded down Victoria Street, where a speeding cab took their lives in an instant.

Lambert, or Uncle Lamb as she'd call him, took her to the cathedral annually, on her parent's death anniversary. And now that he too was gone, Claire's visits in the church had transformed from being an act of honoring the dead to a rather odd attempt of _speaking_ to them, as though they were alive.   
  


_Let your faith ascend_. 

"Oh, Uncle Lamb." She sniveled the first tear that would break the entire dam of pent-up grief. "If you were only here."

_If you were only here, it would have been bearable._

And she broke, head down with both hands clutching onto the wooden armrests as reality sank deep. She was indeed _alone_ in this battle now. With no family, no parent, not even a husband to come home to.

Claire was on her own.

Not wanting to make heads turn like the old man who sneezed for the entire church to hear, Claire folded her hands and pressed them against her lips. She could only do so much to quell her sobbing, and so she dwelt on recounting the piercing events of the previous month in her head: the tipping point of her marriage with Frank. Perhaps the dead could find their way in looking through her thoughts as she played moments over and over inside her head like a videotape nearing its decay. She imagined her Uncle Lamb, sitting idly beside her by the pews with his brows furrowed, eager to listen as she spoke the mess that she'd endured over the past weeks.

_I thought Frank loved me. I was a fool to hold onto that thought for years._

Claire wept at the memory six years ago, when she and her then husband Frank were both huddled by the breakfast table after a visit at the urologist's clinic, still processing the heartbreaking news brought to them one cold November morning. She remember lovingly pulling her husband into her arms, comforting him, trying to put back the broken pieces of his heart after the news that shattered it.  
  
Frank was sterile, unable to give Claire the children that they both hoped for.

* * *

_November 2012_

_"You know I'd still love you anyway,"_ She pressed her lips against his moist cheek; Frank had been crying his eyes the moment he started the car on their way home, and he was still at it. They were already married for two years, and after an endless cycle of trying and failing and trying once more to conceive a child of their own, they thought something might be amiss.

But now that the doctors had already deemed it impossible with the diagnosis...

_"It's my fault that we can't—"_

_"Stop, Frank. It is not your fault. It's nobody's fucking fault!"_

_"Oh, must you bluff? You know you're disappointed Claire. You wanted kids, and now all of that's_ _taken away! Gone!"_ With a swing of his arm, he sent their breakfast plates crashing on the wall. _"I can see the disappointment in your eyes, the dismay in your face is so...so obvious that I loathe myself all the more when I look at you!"_  
  


She can't help it, she has never been good at concealing things. Her face and expressions were as clear and transparent as glass that anybody who tried to gaze into her whisky eyes would know exactly what she thinks.   
  


_"I am disappointed, yes I am. But not at you. How can I not love you, Frank?"_ Claire was begging—literally begging—for him to stop blaming himself for something none of them would have had the power to control. 

_"Is this not enough reason? Am I not a terrible person for being like this? An invalid who can't be the man you wanted."_ that was all Frank had to say in his anguish. He stared at her with weary, bloodshot eyes. _"I have failed you greatly."_

 _"No, you haven't."_ She said with a bit of force in her voice. She can't let him falter. If he did, then she was more than prepared to pull him back up on his feet. _"No. Look at me, Frank Randall. You are not giving up on us. I am_ your _wife, and I love you for who you are, regardless of anything."_

Frank, despite Claire's tears and sweet assurances, just made a throaty sigh, standing up from his seat, retreating to their room. His head was sunken and feet dragging with every step he made out of the kitchen, not even bothering whether he stepped on the mess on the floor.

Clearly, she didn't know how else she could convince him of her commitment and unending devotion to him, because as days passed, not even the most passionate of kisses nor the amount of nights they would spend making love, re-exploring they way their bodies would react to their touch could keep Frank from slipping through her fingers—subtly, away from the happy life they had dreamed for themselves—since the day they found out.

* * *

_He knew how badly I wanted a family of our own.  
_

_He knew I wanted kids. I think I had made that an obvious wish even before he married me.  
_

_He knew all of that. And just when the circumstances were on our favor, I thought he was willing to give that a try..._ Claire sighed from where she knelt. Another row of lights were flicked off in the big church.

_...he wanted to give it a try, even if it meant they wouldn't be his._

* * *

_February 2013_

The blissful memory of Frank taking her to dinner at one of Clapham Common's neighborhood restaurants was brought into mind. A fine night it was, as far as her memory could take her, and it made her chuckle a bit at the reminiscence of the way Frank stared at her lovingly with his dark, soulful eyes flickering with the reflection of the candlelight, or how the deep, visible creases that stretched across Frank's cheeks curved back with his delighted grin the moment she agreed to undergo an artificial insemination procedure.

 _"For real?"_ Even Frank could not contain his joy. He held her hands, trembling with excitement even in his calm collectedness. " _Will you do it for real, Claire?"_

She nodded as she took in the sight before her; it has been a while since she saw Frank this happy. All the more did it made her think that perhaps going through this procedure was their answer, not only as their ticket into making a family of their own, but also as their one chance to bring back the deep intimacy and devotion they have lost along the way as a married couple. 

_"Of course, I agree. I will do it."_ The enthusiasm in her voice grew all the more when Frank began to clasp his hands together, pressing them both to his lips to muffle down a deep sigh of relief. _"But it is not only me doing this, Frank. We're a team, remember?"_ She was more than ready; adoption and foster care were always among the options that they had over the previous months, but they both knew that among all choices, conceiving, birthing and raising a child of their own from their very first breath of life was the option that would stand tall among others. Frank agreed to give her all the time that she needed to think about it, and now that she's given him her answer, Frank was satisfied. 

_"Good things do come to those who patiently wait, don't they Claire? God, you have no idea how happy I am right now."_

He did look very satisfied _._

 _"We'll start this from scratch, you and me. Consider the way we'll make a nest, the time we'll put into preparing for the arrival of our little one. We'll have each other, Claire."_ He beamed as he held her hand tightly on top of their table. _"We'll build this family together. Oh,_ _Claire, I'm...beyond words."_ He gently lifted her hand—the golden wedding band on her finger shining winsomely in the dim light—and he bent his head to kiss her knuckles fervently. _"All the while I thought we could never make it happen. Well, technically we really won't with just the two of us but with a donor--"_

 _"Silly you,"_ She laughed, Claire was the one pulling his hand this time, placing his long and slender hands against her cheek. The tips of his calloused fingers, brought about by constant writing, grazed down from her ear and down to her jaw. For a brief moment, she dwelt in her present reality: her and Frank being at their happiest after a long time of grief. It felt too good to be true, but she thanked the heavens for bringing them back on track. _"Parenting isn't just about blood, or genes, or whatever biological connection you have. It's intention. And we have a whole lot of it with us, Frank. A lot. Don't we?"_

 _"We do, honey."_ Frank huffed, still overwhelmed and unquestionably merry-hearted. 

" _All I need to know, Frank, is that you will be there for me, as I will be the same for_ _you."_ Claire whispered tenderly against his fingers. _You'll be there for me, won't you?"_

 _"Of course."_ Frank answered, without a hint of posturing or ruse. To her, his words were genuine promises she knew she could always count on and. _"I will."_

* * *

Or at least it did sound genuine at the time.

She felt stupid for saying all those baseless words, much more believing in what he had to say. Had she known he'd discard all of it the moment he no longer wanted anything to do with her life, she would've brought her guard up at every word. But how was she to know that, when he'd vow her a lifetime?

While Claire had kept the doors of her heart open, waiting for him to come back despite the lonesome years they spent afterwards, Frank had already shut the door.

* * *

_March 2013_

_"Dr. Mackenzie,"_

Frank motioned Claire towards a tall, well-built, bald-headed man with a labcoat and a prominent beard. _"This is my wife, Claire Randall. Claire, this is Dr. Dougal Mackenzie. He's the resident reproductive endocrinologist in this establishment."_ The doctor, who donned a pair of thick spectacles beneath his warm, hazel eyes, came out abruptly from his clinic to greet them.

 _"Ah! Reproductive endocrinologist. What an introduction. Ye can just call me a fertility doctor instead, to make things simpler."_ He then nudged his glasses up a little higher on the bridge of his nose while he swiveled towards Claire. _"At your service, Mistress Randall. It's good to see ye, finally!"_ He said dotingly as he held his hand in front of her, waiting for a shake.

 _"Hello,"_ She took it, shaking his hand briefly before letting go. It was a helpless situation; nervousness had begun to creep in the moment they stepped in the clinic, and heightened all the more at the sight of Doctor Mackenzie, a man who towered over them, the doctor who had the answer to her and Frank's concern.

 _"Mr. Randall and I have had the pleasure of making each other's acquaintance a month ago. He's told me about your shared dream of parenting, ye ken."_ He explained quickly, sensing that his statement had caused her to raise a brow. _"Were ye no aware of his visits to the fertility clinic?"_

 _"Oh, not to worry, I'm entirely aware why we're here. I just thought this was our first visit, you know, together,"_ She said as she eyed the tall doctor. He appeared to be an obliging and amiable bloke despite his great stature, standing tall and brawny in his smock; for a man in his late forties, he still managed to maintain a good vigorous figure.

 _"I'm sorry I didn't bother bringing you here on my first visit, Claire. I went out looking for a clinic the day after you agreed,"_ Frank placed a hand on her shoulder as she explained. _"Fortunately, I was able to book an appointment with a certain Doctor Dougal Mackenzie."_

 _"Lucky yer husband visited my clinic that day, Mrs. Randall. He was able to secure a donor to yer liking."_ Doctor Mackenzie smiled. Claire was grateful for the doctor, but perhaps at that moment she felt a slight tinge of regret that came from the thought of Frank never telling her about his plans to visit the clinic, or even him not bringing her along with him to discuss things with the doctor. 

Nonetheless, she just huffed and let those little regrets pass. Maybe Frank was too overjoyed he forgot. Or maybe he didn't want to make her fuss about it. There was clearly no valid reason to hold a serious grudge on.

Instead she reminded herself how fortunate they were now; they did not only secure themselves a doctor, but they also found themselves a good donor. All that was left was for the procedure to be done.

Taking a side-step, the doctor gestured the couple to the clinic's door. _"We shall make our first examinations, then,"_ She nodded in reply, her nerves getting wildly upbeat as they were greeted by the scent of that peculiar, aseptic scent of his clinic when the door opened. Doctor Mackenzie oriented her with every area, item and equipment in display as they walked in. His clinic was a bit spacious, she observed, with a sliding wooden door that divided his office and receiving area from the space where Claire was led to sit on a blue gynecology chair.

 _"Please make yourself comfortable here, Mrs. Randall."_ Doctor Mackenzie said in a low tone, although she had no idea how an intimidating examination chair with leg stirrups and the grueling thought of letting him see her lower regions could make her comfortable.

 _Relax,_ she hummed in her head. _He's a doctor. A professional._

She sat stiffly with her loose black sundress that fell just beneath her knees, wanting to get on with what was necessary. Wasn't this supposed to be quick and easy? Frank may not have oriented her well about the meeting with the doctor, but she had an idea of how insemination procedures happened, as it was briefly discussed during her lectures in medical school. It simply involved the donor's sperm, and a special tube. Or did it involve more?

Or was she even listening to her professor when it was brought to discussion?

Claire breathed in, held her breath for a few seconds, and breathed out again. The sight of the leg stirrups peering from either side of the chair made her break a sweat in that airconditioned room. It's not that she was not used to _spreading_ her legs for a man other than Frank, as she had enjoyed a liberated life dating a few men before tying the knot with him, but this was different. It felt invasive. To say the least, embarrassing.

 _"I ken what ye think now, Mrs. Randall. But ye can trust me,"_ Doctor Mackenzie said calmly as he settled beside her, _"And Mr. Randall could stay by your side if ye want him to."_

Of course, Frank promised her he'll be by her side. She looked past the leg rest to see him standing nearby with a look of concern in his face. _"You'll be alright, Claire."_ a whisper crept from his lips.

 _"I will,"_ she whispered that much more to herself, even if she had doubts of her own. _"Yeah, I will be alright."_

 _"If ye will allow me to make one final examination to make sure that we have an ovulation to our advantage,"_ The doctor said. _"Just a wee ultrasound., is all."_

 _Oh. Ultrasound._ Claire nodded calmly, thinking it would not be that bad until the bald doctor tossed her a blanket and asked her to spread her legs. She never knew the ultrasound procedure they'd be doing would be the invasive one, but despite her qualms, she placed her faith on Doctor Mackenzie, reminding herself over and over that he knew what he was doing. _"Spread yer legs, Mrs. Randall,"_

And spread her legs she did.

The entire internal examination took them three agonizing minutes before Doctor Mackenzie gave a content huff as he readjusted his glasses. _"Alright. That'll do."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Ovulation had just begun,"_ He grinned, pointing towards the screen that had projected a fuzzy, grainy picture of something that neither Frank nor Claire couldn't even understand. _"We could start the procedure as early as now, but it would be best if we wait until Thursday. The way I see it, it's when your body is at its peak of fertility."_

 _"That means we have three days,"_ Frank immediately clasped her hand with his own as he spoke. _"Should we do something and prepare? For good measure?"_

The ultrasound transducer was already put away, something that brought Claire back to her relaxed state, and all the more when the machine was switched off. _"Weel, what ye can do Mr. Randall is to go easy on being intimate. No advances, no sex, whatsoever."_

 _"Oh, alright."_ Frank nodded, taking that in mind. _"Not even teasing?"_

 _"No. Ye've got an eternity tae do all o' those things, ken? A few days of only seeing yer wife isna gonna hurt, will it?"_ the doctor jested with Frank in a remotely playful manner. _"_ _And ye, Mrs. Randall, ye ought tae enjoy plenty of rest. Try eating a bigger breakfast rich in antioxidants. Zinc, folate, and fiber would be among those ye'll need._ _We have to keep yerself healthy and at yer most fertile state come Thursday."_

 _"Thursday,"_ repeating the words helped Claire prepare herself for the big day. _"Alright. We'll see you three days from now, Doctor."_

 _"I look forward to meeting ye both again, Mr. and Mrs. Randall,"_ he replied as he and her husband guided her up the chair and to her feet. As she began to reach and fasten the small, golden buckles of her sandal straps together, she heard the doctor hum a tone of wonder from behind the chair. Looking up, Claire found him perusing something on top of her head, or at least somewhere near it. _"I must say, though I'm no' in the position to give compliments wi' my bald head, ye've got one of the most beautiful locks o' hair I've seen."_ He said as an observation, and not in a flirtatious way.

 _"Oh, thank you,"_ She coyly replied, tucking in a few strands of her brown tufts behind her ear. Her thick curls were not really something worth complimenting as it was always a mess even if she'd tie it back with a scrunchie, and so kind observations, although very much welcomed by Claire, would always send her cheeks flushing a tiny hint of rose pink. _"I never thought I'd hear such kind compliments from a fertility doctor,"_

 _"Not what ye expected, no? Not from a bald man such as I!"_ The two of them shared a good laugh at that, and even Frank was found snickering behind her. _"All these research and laboratory work had taken a toll in exposing my head. I still have a lot of work to do with pending tests on sperm preservation."_

 _"So you're also conducting research now, Doctor Mackenzie?"_ Frank asked while he helped Claire with the other buckles.

 _"Aye, it's something I'm verra proud of."_ He beamed, crossing both his arms which emphasized the tight muscles beneath his white coat. _"I'm currently participating in a joint study in creating new technologies for sperm preservation, ye ken. Pushing boundaries could mean making a hundred failed attempts, and I'm fortunate to find myself to be verra close to the answer."_

 _"And the price for it is your...hair?"_ Frank chaffed, and Doctor Mackenzie bellowed with a hand ghosting his shiny bald head, muttering in an incomprehendable Gaelic, as though he was reprimanding himself of something. _"At least you were able to save the beard, though."_

 _"To have a full beard is still a blessing, I reckon. Weel, I shall now see ye out o' the clinic while I get back to work."_ He nodded, finally signalling them both that it was time to go. _"Claire, dearest, make sure ye're well-prepared and in good health on your next visit, aye?"_

And so they left and followed the doctor's advice. Frank went to work, while making sure Claire stayed home eating healthy and having a good amount of rest in preparation for the Thursday meeting. Three days passed like three years for both of them as they waited in great anticipation until they both found themselves seated on their carseats, driving down the busy London streets towards Doctor Mackenzie's clinic.

The Randalls have prepared well over the past, long days; Frank had already requested a leave of absence in the university from Thursday up until Friday, and Claire had chosen a _longer_ dress for the doctor's appointment as she would never want herself fussing uncomfortably on Doctor Mackenzie's chair of terror ever again. The nights leading to that day had been spent for late-night conversations about Frank's first visit to the fertility clinic, and the anonymous sperm donor he had selected to bring their family to fruition. It turns out, that as he conversed with Claire, Frank did not have much of a preference about the donor, for as long as it was close to their ethnicity. The spot was open for any man who was of Irish, Scottish, French or English descent, and they were fortunate to narrow one down: a donor born and raised in the UK, currently working as a coach of a university football team. " _Are you sure this isn't your friend Arthur from Oxford's football club?"_ She interjected while Frank had been imagining what their child would look like. 

_"Arthur? That fuckup football coach?"_

_"He isn't a fuckup, if you'd ask me. I mean, Arthur's really good at his coaching career. And ethnicity? He's a Scot. You said you'd take anybody who's Irish, Scottish, French, or English, right? The chart also says that. He fits the description."_

Frank gulped. _"Arthur has a boyfriend, Claire. And they've been sexually active ever since they got together. He surely would not qualify for the sperm donorship."_

 _"Tch." Claire's little muttering sound followed a giggle. "I know that. I just wanted to make you nervous, and it turns out I succeeded,"_ Claire wriggled beneath the sheets, her body curling and pressing towards her husband to give him a slight tease, but Frank was not having it as he spanked her butt. _"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! What was that for?"_

 _"I would never, ever, allow Arthur to sire our kids."_ Frank grumbled.

_"Wait 'till Doctor Mackenzie finds out you've slapped me."_

_"Wait 'till I tell him my wife teased me to bed her by giving my cock a little touch. Christ."_ Frank sighed, pulling her closer into his arms as he whispered softly just above her ear. " _Of all people, you'd vouch for that man? You think I'd let Arthur be the father of our kids? I could just vomit right here at the thought of it."_

 _"Hah! You jealous bastard."_ Claire grinned and made a slight moan as Frank nuzzled warm breaths against her neck. She swore, if Frank kept up his pace in rousing her, then she might end up not following Doctor Mackenzie's instructions. _"_ _Who says anybody will be the dad here, other than you? Come here."_ Claire pulled Frank closer to her lips, and he closed in all too eagerly, pressing his lips against her own. _"Our baby may look like another man's child, but they can never be our child's father. It's only you who could be that man, Frank."_

 _"That's what scares me, Claire."_ He said before kissing her once more. _"What if there's more of the other man--"_

_"You know, I'd like it if we quit fussing about how the donor looks like."_

Frank shrugged. _"I just wanted to make everything to look more like... us. Ours."_

Claire cupped his cheek endearingly in an attempt to bring him into her own thoughts on the matter at hand. _"We will look like us because of us, the way we love and care and build up one another. Our family may be different, but I would never trade it for anything."_ A part of her did want Frank to be more open-minded than he is now; perhaps, she thought, he still has not fully come to terms with his saddening incapability in giving her children, but she had wished for them both to move forward and accept whatever the future promised them, most especially what awaits them on their doctor's appointment the following day.

_"But what if I don't do well, knowing that..."_

_"Knowing what?"_

Frank balked when she forced up an answer, but he gave it nonetheless. _"Knowing that, well, that they won't be mine?"_

 _"Look."_ She narrowed her eyes, but maintained a soft expression that captured his attention. _"Our child, and all the children that would follow after, are yours to call your own. This is our family, Frank. So long as we are committed to be the best parents, nothing can go wrong,_ _"_ A kiss was planted on Frank's lips. _"I really can't wait."_

Frank made a sleepy grin, gently raking his slender fingers through the natural brown curls that rested wildly atop her head. _"It's going to be a big day tomorrow, I reckon."_

And a big day it was.

They now found themselves standing hand in hand in front of the doctor, eyes bright with a hint of uneasiness pooling in their stomachs. It could be due to the terror of the unknown, but the Randalls knew it was more from the excitement.

It was the longest twenty-five minutes of their life, if Claire could recall how the anticipation thickened as she saw the tall, well-built doctor skillfully prop his instruments with both hands—now covered with those elastic surgical gloves. While Doctor Mackenzie exited and entered the room, Frank never left her side; his hand was always there for her to hold onto, especially when the doctor reappeared with a tiny speculum, a catheter, and the vial of translucent liquid they both knew contained the answer. Before coming here, Claire had already done her own research on intrauterine insemination—as stock knowledge had proven her bereft of such information—and was prepared for the worst as much as she was hopeful for the best.

 _"Some couples come back for another cycle of IUI, but most of them get it right in one go, at least in my clinic,"_ the doctor said with a happy and hopeful tone in his gruff voice as he proceeded to arrange the extra instruments by the table. _"I pray and hope ye both dinna come back. Or if ye do, may ye come back with nothing but good news. Or if ye wish tae have another child."_

 _"Thank you, Doctor Mackenzie,"_ Frank said.

 _"Dinna thank me yet, son. Not until we find this procedure successful. But of course, I have much faith it will."_ It was, for Claire, endearing to know that their fertility doctor was not only concerned about doing his job and getting on with it, but he too deeply cared for them so much so he wished for them to claim the success of today's procedure. _"Ready, Mr. Randall?"_ Doctor Mackenzie asked.

 _"Certainly,"_ Frank said in a low voice.

The bald man now looked at Claire. _"Ready now, Mrs. Randall?"_

She made one gulp to bring down any hint of fear back in her gut. _"Yes, Doctor."_ Claire gripped on the handlebars of her chair.

_"I am ready."_

* * *

  
Another row of lights flicked off.

Even with her lids closed, she could tell that the room got a whole lot dimmer. But this time, she decided to blink her eyes open, now even redder and swollen than how it was when she entered the doors of the humongous sanctuary. Looking around, she could only see empty pews; the churchgoers were long gone, and most of the lights were too.

 _Alone_ , she trembled as she sank on the kneeler, defeated by the darkness that began to envelope her until she was brought to stare at the tiled floor and saw that there was a reflection of what seemed to look like light.

There was only one more row of chandeliers shedding light in the dark. She slowly pulled herself back up to her former kneeling position to see that she was stationed in one of the center pews lined in between the sources of the warm luster: two candelabrums on either side, both fashioned with bulbs instead of actual flames, were faintly shining in the dark in their warm and golden hues. Claire stared silently towards the one on the left, and then proceeded to the one on the right after a few moments.

_Let your faith ascend, dear niece._

It may have been a voice in her head, but it was her Uncle Lamb's words—the only memento she had of the man that still existed, and echoed in her heart. It had been the words he gave her when she lost her parents, and the last words for her before he too departed from the world. Lamb was downright frugal for his own good; most of what he owned, save his clothes and house, were artifacts he either sold or donated to the Natural History Museum. Working as an known archaeologist among others earned him great recognition, and so much more when he died on a plane crash back in 2011. Claire had no clue what to do with all of her uncle's footprints, and after weeks of mourning over the death of her beloved uncle, she decided that each item in his household had a recipient. The man's books, notes and research files were to be sent to his colleagues at Oxford. His collection of rocks, fossils and other unearthed objects of history were all gladly purchased by the museum, the money she used to sustain her education in medical school. Some of what could still be used, she kept, while all else went to the fire. To say the least, Claire was confident that Lamb was proud of what she did; he made it clear to her with the way he lived his life that possessions could only do nothing but keep human beings from moving forward to the next—one important thing he learned as a man studying human history through possessions. He probably would have done the same thing if his death was of a disease that gave him time to prepare. But unfortunately, it was not. He was taken away without warning. His passing, likened to a dropped bomb. Or one of her experiences with Frank and his annoying, sudden brakes that had sent her coffee spilling all over the carseat. 

_No_ , she thought. _This isn't anything similar to a coffee spill_. She couldn't laugh it off, nor could she wipe off the liquid with a towel and go on as if it never happened.

This grief was not some accident that she could laugh off. Her grief over her parents' and Lamb's death felt similar to when she and Frank found out that they could never have children of their own, but the latter proved itself to be more painful. Now, yet another bomb has been dropped--something much more painful than the previous one; her life was completely shattered when Frank came to her doorstep with divorce papers that morning, just hours before day turned into night and she wept her way to the cathedral after making a short visit to Geillis' house.

She lost these people. None of that could be compared to a little coffee accident.

"Let my faith ascend," She uttered his words throatily as she watched the two chandeliers. "Let my faith ascend." she said again, in an attempt to give her some solace. Despite the soft light the two chandeliers brought into the darkened hall of the church, they were blazing bright enough to make Claire realize that she was not alone in the world. And she noticed them, shining their little light in the huge dark hall. 

_Let my faith ascend._

_Faith. Ascend._

_Faith and Brianna_.

A glimmer of hope. At the realization of it all through a distant memory of pain shifting into joy, Claire smiled. She wasn't alone.

She had them.

That distant memory was five years ago: the moment she first laid eyes on the two fraternal twin sisters—her two beautiful and precious daughters, flame-haired and all; upon seeing one, and then another, both of them covered in blood and fluid as they wailed with their hands kept to their chests, she knew her life shall no longer be lived for her own sake. She could remember the moment she saw their angelic faces for the first time, or the moment she held both fragile bodies for the first time, and was reminded how the immense power these first moments with Faith and Brianna was far greater than any of her sorrows. Claire would go through a heartbreak, but will always find herself coming back to the memory of finding her pregnancy test positive, how she almost lost her voice screaming with excitement at the news of life growing within her. She remembered that at that very same day, she called Frank—

 _No, none of him_. She breathed, skipping a few memories of the man who had deliberately tore her heart today, and instead shifting the lens of her thoughts on her and the two bundle of joys she loved dearly. Being made aware that no one was there to see her sniffling by the pews, Claire decided to take in the solace of the darkened room and the two chandeliers to her advantage. She had to learn how to take Frank away from the happy memories from now on, no matter how difficult it may seem to detach him from it.

He no longer deserves to be in them.

Closing her eyes, with an attempt to quell the pain in her heart through the imagery in her mind, she takes herself back to Doctor Mackenzie's clinic, telling him of the great news. The delighted doctor pulled her to a hug that day, wishing her safety and health.

She remember calling Geillis, and how she immediately scampered to her home to share the joy.

 _"Does this mean ye'll no be joining our classes any longer?"_ Geillis asked with the most extraordinary smile on her face, it could make anybody think she actually doesn't want Claire to continue attending medical school for the sake of her pregnancy, but Claire knew better. With Geillis Duncan being her constant class companion and friend ever since she began studying Medicine, she knew that this tall, young lady with the pretty, green doe-eyes, and the peculiarly malicious grin only thought about her well-being. She had been the second person to be enlightened about her personal life; Geillis Duncan knew about Frank's sterility, Claire's IUI adventures, and all of that she kept secret, most especially the former.

She remembered the moments she would have in class where her hands would find themselves hidden beneath her desk, smoothing around the distended part of her abdomen—the sign of life growing within her—while she listened to lectures. She admired how her body changed into something foreign with each day that passed, her heart swelling with joy at the thought of bearing a sweet miracle.

Or sweet _miracles_ , rather.

 _"The joy's doubled, Mrs. Randall. You're having twins,"_ the fuzzy memory of her gynecologist beaming with so much pride was still kept in mind. Claire could not remember vividly how the clinic room was, what she was wearing, or what time of the day did she visit the clinic. All that mattered was the news that she was, all this time, nurturing two innocent tiny human beings inside her now swelling stomach. She had been warned it would be a difficult birth afterwards, that she might experience complications if things would not go smoothly, and through that great ordeal leading to the moment she began to experience the first signs of labor, one thing kept ringing in her head.

_Let your faith ascend._

And she did. With her heart out, Claire braved it all, and outlived every pang of pain in her gut. She didn't need Frank. She did it herself.

Finding her newborn babies neatly swaddled and kept in tiny nursery beds after her being drained and well-fatigued from labor and childbirth brought her indescribable joy, something she had never experienced in her life until that very day.

The moment she became a mother.

Claire was filled entirely with awestruck wonder at the sight of them both, that even as her body was telling her to rest, she can never resist seeing her twins sleeping with gentle smiles, so much so that she was prepared to give the world to them if they asked for it. That love has never wavered, not even when she had to squeeze her final review before her graduation in medical school, not even when Frank had began to slip away from their marriage each passing day.

She won't let that love flicker away tonight, either.

Opening her eyes, she was transported back to her reality in the empty church. She stood up too hastily, almost stumbling at that, but as soon as she found her balance, she immediately dried the tears away from her cheek with her palms. _Let your faith ascend, dear niece._

The words ruminated her thoughts again as she made one final glance at the two chandeliers before heading for the door.

"Thank you, Uncle Lamb."

* * *

After a few minutes of apologizing to one of the churchkeepers for staying too long past closing time, Claire hurried to her car and received a call. It was Geillis.

"Hello, Geillie girl, did I—"

"Mommy?" the sound that echoed from the other line of the call almost broke her heart. "Are you coming home?"

She swallowed. "O-Of course, sweetheart."

Claire knew that it was Faith speaking to her, with her tiny voice and her unique way of stretching her words too much gave the hint. Between the two five-year-olds, Faith was the curious and inquisitive one; it was only expected she would be the first one to go look for her. The little girl had a lot of questions about even the simplest of things, something which Brianna does not dwell much on.

The other twin, Brianna, was instead the loud and active girl who inhibited no such sense of danger. She could go the entire day focused in play and games, oftentimes causing trouble by breaking a vase or making her sister cry, until she drains herself to sleep.

Now realizing that Faith has made a call using her Aunt Geillis' phone, her best friend must have tucked the twins to sleep hours ago, but perhaps the curious little one had woken up in the middle of the night to see that Claire was not yet around. "We were waiting for you," Faith whined on the phone, her voice echoing as she did. Was she in the bathroom? How on earth did little Faith end up in Geillis' bathroom? Or worse, could she have strolled too far to be at the building's fire exit?

She had to leave, now. 

"Oh, baby! I'm so sorry I got you worried. I'm on my way home now, okay?" She struggled to sniffle, and her curious daughter had caught the noise.

"Are you still crying, Mommy?"

 _Jesus H. Christ._ She reprimanded herself for being too loud to be heard, and now she was all the more worried that she might cause a spillover of sorrows to her daughter. "Well... Just a little. Very, _very_ little tears flowing here and there. But Mommy's feeling b-better now, sweetie. I'll be home soon. Sounds good?"

"Okay..." She hummed. "Five minutes?"

"Perhaps ten,"

"Uh." She grumbled. "Five?"

"I'll try, Faith." Her daughter's innocent request made her smile. Westminster Cathedral was a twelve-minute drive to Geillis' Soho apartment, but if Faith wants it five, then she'll try to make it happen. "Mommy's going to try to get home in five minutes. I'll try. Does that sound good?" When she heard her say a little tut, she continued. "Is your Aunt Geillis there?"

"Asleep. I sneaked out. You won't tell her I called you, right?"

"What?" Claire giggled. "How did you...didn't Auntie Geillis phone have a password?"

"I uh...know it." Claire stifled a laugh of amusement.

_God, my daughter is a sneaky genius for a five-year old._

"Please don't tell her, Mommy!" Faith squealed on the phone, getting Claire's attention all too quickly back to the present. _Right. Go home, Claire. Go home, now._

"Alright. It'll be between you and me."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise! Mommy's good with promises, isn't she? Pinky swear." Claire could hear her daughter hum in content on the line. "Oh Faithie dear, thank you for calling me!"

Truly, that call meant so much for her. All those tears have been instantly replaced with the joy of hearing one of her daughters on the phone. It could have been better if Brianna was awake, but she thought about how they could quarrel on who gets to go hold the phone and talk to Mommy, and begin to scream at each other. One of the two was enough for the night, perhaps.

"You're welcome, Mommy. I love you," Faith simply replied at that.

"Oh, I love you too! I love you too, sweetie. Now, I'll be home soon, okay?"

"Okay,"

"Put the phone back where you got it?"

Faith tittered. "Okay,"

"Good girl. I'll see you soon, baby."

"Okay. Kiss kiss?"

Claire puckered her lips to make an audible smooch before ending the call. Her heart was recharged, and she knew deep within her that she could brave this entirely new life with her beautiful daughters. She made a mental note that she was not driving all the way back to her house, and that she was going to make that twelve-minute (or five) drive to Soho, where her daughters and Geillis will be waiting for her. Frank's house may be a lot bigger and better: a townhouse near Oxford which was more than an hour away from the cathedral was surely a ride worth its miles. But it simply was not home. 

Faith and Brianna was, and turns out has always been, her home.

_Frank stepped out of the ride, then I shall speed away, far enough for him to never see me nor my daughters again._

She buckled her seat and started the car. As soon as she had everything in place, she backed from the parking lot and into the street, maintaining a speed that would make her arrive at Geillis' house in five minutes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faith - a complete trust in something/someone  
> Brianna - (Celtic) ascending, high, noble, strong.


	2. In With The New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old chair breaks, and gives room for new opportunities and better days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM DEEPLY OVERWHELMED by your comments in the comments section, and for also making it an avenue for us to have fun conversations! :) thank you so much for the encouragements + the cute tidbits of discussions here and there. Quick heads up: This is yet another lengthy chapter (based on the word count, it seems longer than the first). 
> 
> AND, I need some help from you guys! I'm used to reading AO3 works using my phone (sometimes I also edit out the grammatical errors of this wee fic using it too). For Apple users, would you guys happen to know how to enable Show Reader View? 
> 
> Thanks a bunch! xx

**"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!"**

Claire was muttering her way up the stairs as she wriggled her covered wrist off her chiffon sleeve to check the time on her watch. 10:46 PM.

 _Great going, Beauchamp_. She was fifteen minutes late.

Marching up with her huge leather bag dangling on the crook of her arm and her hand holding up a brown paper bag of sweets, she prayed hard that Faith would not fuss about how their five-minute agreement did not go according to plan once she sees the bag filled with four, four-finger KitKat bars, a pair bought for each twin.

KitKats have always been Claire's secret weapon when in her most desperate times. Although she saw to it that she did not spoil her girls with all the sweet treats in the world, there were times when she saw it fit to give them a little reward for being good girls, or a token for appeasement for any misgiving brought upon them, such as her breach of agreement tonight.

Moreover, after the long and tough month she and the girls were in, she needed something to keep them from any of the pain she was going through. Claire would not want them to bear in mind the mistakes of Frank—to not know the horror their mother faced when, after a shortened shift at the hospital, she arrived home only to see Frank and his lady colleague from university almost a month ago, sharing a few glasses of brandy and some intimate kisses by their house's fireplace—

 _None of him,_ hitting her temple with the base of her palm, _none of him, woman. Get rid of that fucking bastard, get him off your head!_

Claire scampered up the stairs until she reached the third floor of the apartment building, where her daughters (one sound asleep, the other probably thrashing on the living room because her Mommy is not home yet) were waiting with their Aunt Geillis. The apartment hallway was still well-lit even in the evening, so spotting the door with the room number 304 was not much of a challenge. When she saw the said door, it was as though her body gravitated towards it and in what seemed like a split-second, she was leaning against it, knocking on its smoothened surface with her knuckles.

The door flung open softly after a few more knocks, and she held her head out to meet Geillis eye-level, but was surprised when there wasn't a tall woman to meet her face to face by the doorway. Instead, she felt a sudden, tight clutch on her thigh.

"Faithie!" Claire gasped at the sight of wild red hair bouncing up and down beneath her, wailing and crying as she harnessed herself onto her mother's flanks, but a misstep suddenly sent the little girl stumbling on the concrete floor. "Oh, dear. Oh, no!" Claire immediately crouched down to pick up Faith from where she lay on her stomach. With a little grunt to pick up momentum, she lifted her daughter to be examined of any injury. Bruises? None. Cuts? None of that either.

Claire dusted Faith's pink sweatshirt instead. The injury wasn't anywhere extrinsic, Claire concluded, but she wailed as if she scraped both knees.

"You said _five!"_ Faith wailed, worry filling her amber-brown eyes more than it contained disappointment. Before Claire could even reprimand her for opening the apartment door without even asking for adult assistance, she was already overcome by her own daughter's misery that instinct prodded her to pull the girl into her arms. The admonitions could wait a little bit longer, Claire supposed, but a broken heart couldn't. If a heart needed any mending, it needed that immediately.

"I know. I'm sorry, lovie." Claire crooned behind her ear, repeatedly stroking Faith's back in a slow, circular motions. "Mommy's here now. Shhh."

Maybe it was all too scary for the twins to be in an unfamiliar place all so suddenly; although the girls were very fond of their Aunt Geillis and had spent some of their days in her apartment for playdates, they never actually stayed the night in any place other than their house back in Oxfordshire. Growing up, Bree and Faith had the huge townhouse for themselves. The Randalls' Residence—or at least it was now Frank Randall's residence—was more than enough for Brianna and Faith had to run around and frolic; he would occasionally arrive from work with newly-bought toys and dolls that would match and fit inside their playhouse, and he even had an interior designer convert one of their house's spare spaces to be the girls' playroom.

School was also done within the premises of their home, as Frank thought it would be better for the two girls to have a teacher's full attention in their learning, much more be taught by one of his trusted colleagues at work who has a master's course in Child Education. He volunteered he'd cover all the fees for their homeschooling education, and Claire obliged to his offer, happy with how the private-teacher setup would save them both time from bringing the kids to and from school. However, the happy arrangement they all enjoyed for several years all fell into shards when Claire arrived home earlier than expected one July evening, and what greeted her was the sight of her husband making love on the couch with Miss Sandy Travers—Frank's lady colleague, and, as much as she hated to admit the truth, was also her daughters' private homeschool teacher for two years.

She'd always wondered _how long_ did they keep this from her; Candy—or Sandy, rather, had been tutoring the twins since they were three, and visited home almost every weekday, even at times when Claire had night shifts at the hospital.

When she saw Frank thrusting his hips against that ugly, blonde wench that night, she couldn't escape the possibility that they might have had this illicit, amorous relationship for months, or worse, more than a year.

Of course, that was the last day of Sandy's homeschooling stint for the twins, as it was also the last day she saw Frank until the morning of the present day, when he stormed back inside the house with divorce papers, and a lawyer. Where he stayed during his month's disappearance, she didn't want to know. Sometimes, as Claire would recall, it felt like Frank had already given up on her a long time ago, and he simply had to look for a good enough reason to finally end things once and for all.

She didn't know what saddened her more, if it was the fact that she caught him cheating, or the thought of him deliberately doing every action to finally put their marriage to an end. Either way, it was clear that their marriage was already making a beeline towards its own downfall, as they talked through the phone, in the course of a month, exchanging spiteful words until Frank ended their eight years of marriage with the words: _"Just sign the goddamn papers when I get there, I don't want this anymore."_

Without a second thought, they both made their terms clear that morning: Frank insisting that they both lived separately and independently from each other, that their shared properties be transferred to the former sole proprietor, and the last one—which Claire appealed—that she would take full custody of the girls, not even requesting any form of alimony or financial support from her husband. She wished, however, while she eyed the lawyer's adept fingers tapping on the his laptop's keyboard, that Frank would object to her proposal, but he didn't.

In fact, he even had some time to spare to make a snide remark. _"They aren't mine, anyway. Why would I even bother?"_

Those words ultimately changed Claire's perception of him: from being the handsome and brilliant man she once loved, Frank is nothing more than a rotten son of a bitch. She was disgusted.

Facing Faith again, she pushed her thoughts away with a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I..." Claire sighed, her own soul craving for the same comfort her daughter asked for. "I know you want to go home, but right now, we can't. Not anymore. But soon, we'll come back to collect your toys, and your clothes, and—"

"No, no," Faith shook her head as she pulled herself away to look at her, iris to iris. Cupping her mother's cheeks with her little hands, she cooed against her cheek. "I just want Mommy. Just you."

She swallowed back the growing lump in her throat, not wanting to make Faith see her cry.

"And you have me, baby. Hush now, Mommy's here, okay? I'm here."

They remained in the middle of the apartment doorway for a few seconds, hugging and whispering soothing words, before Claire carried little Faith in her arms, the KitKat paper bag still clutched in one of her hands. Seeing that Faith's wailing state had now been pacified, Claire was relieved she didn't have to offer the sweets to her daughter this late in the evening.

"Quietly now, quietly," She whispered animatedly to the little girl's ear as she tiptoed into the room. "We don't want to wake up Aunt Geillis—"

"What on earth were ye thinkin', leaving me alone with two rowdy bairns fer hours?!" The person in question suddenly appeared from the kitchen, her strawberry-blonde hair bunched up to the top of her head in a black ponytail. "Ye've got us all worrit, Claire! I was about to call ye when my phone suddenly got spirited away by who kens who."

Claire made a sneaky glance towards the little girl in her arms and pressed a finger to her lip, making a 'shh' sound, and she mirrored her action. _No telling,_ she touched the tip of Faith's nose.

"It turns out I've put the entire house on pins and needles, but thank you for always being the reliable one, Geillis. A place to stay is all we'll need for the next few days." She propped Faith back on the floor, thinking that she would scuttle back to the room and sleep now that she knew her Mommy was around, but the little girl stayed by her side, hopping with both her hands up, quietly wishing for Claire to carry her.

"Okay, wean. Enough wi' the toting." Geillis crossed her arms towards Faith, who was not paying any attention to her. "Yer mam needs to rest, and so do ye. Off to bed wi' Bree now?"

"But—"

"I'll follow soon," Claire knelt down and clasped Faith hands with her bigger ones. Enclosing them together with her fingers, she blew a warm breath in the little space in between, sending her grinning from ear to ear. "If you need me, I'll just be here outside with Auntie G, sweetheart."

Faith made an ungraspable blubbering sound with her lips, before she hummed a nod. "Kiss kiss?"

"Okay, kiss kiss." Claire gave her little forehead a peck before she made a sprint to the spare bedroom Geillis prepared for the three of them. The door closed shut after Faith's disappearance, and the apartment was silent once again. Turning around to meet her best friend to make a proper apology for staying out late, Claire's lips parted, but then closed again, at the sight of the slender-bodied woman holding up a decanter of red wine. "What's that?"

"A beautiful bottle of _cabernet sauvignon._ What else does it look like?"

"I know what it is, G. But why take it out?"

Her green orbs rolled with slight exasperation after glancing over the decanter filled with a captivating shade of dark rufescent. "I ken it isna fit for the occasion. Be best if we had something stronger, but this is all that I have at the moment. I'm sure after a long day wi' Frank-enstein ye'd want to down a glass or two while I keep ye company, aye?"

"I don't think I should—"

"Ye have the day off tomorrow, don't ye?"

Claire breathed out forcefully; there seemed to be no other way but to accept her offer into drinking into the remaining hours of the night. Concerned of the emotional mess her friend was in, Geillis insisted that Claire should rest and wait by the kitchen counter while she took out two wineglasses from the cupboard, placing them haphazardly on the table. She then proceeded to pour the bloodlike liquid onto each goblet up to its distended midsection. "A toast to freedom," Geillis smiled as she raised her half-full glass of wine. The two ladies were now seated on either side of the counter, both their shoulders hunched over their elbows. "A heartbreak, but a victory nonetheless."

Claire raised it quietly, not having with her any snappy comeback to give, and downed the liquor in two big gulps. She was lonely and grieving to the core, but she can't seem to shed any more tears.

"I gather ye intend to be drunk tonight," Reaching for the decanter, Geillis frowned at Claire's empty wineglass as if she was considering heading out to the store just to buy an extra bottle.

"Could be," Claire made a lazy laugh as she tilted her glass for her friend to pour more of the wine in. "Could be not."

"Ye brazen wee hussy,"

The two of them had eventually emptied the wine decanter when Claire began to pour her heart out about what happened during the day. It didn't last long, she recounted; signing the papers together with Frank felt as if terminating years built upon vows of being together was as easy as snatching candy from a helpless baby. After meeting up with the lawyer to agree on terms and sign papers for custody, Claire packed most of her and the twins' clothes before driving her way over Geillis' apartment, although she told Frank she'd come back to check on other things and see if they would either be brought along or be burned to ashes. "It took me a while to arrive here because I went out to Westminster. I needed the time alone."

"And did it help?"

"It always does." Claire lips curved upward when she remembered the two chandeliers. "This time, I was reminded of how the people I have now are far greater than the ones I've lost. Faith. Brianna. And you, of course."

"Sycophant." Geillis' gaze shifted from her now empty glass to the four pieces of large travel suitcases lined up against the wall just beside the door leading to where Faith and Brianna were sound asleep. "Is that all of it?"

"I'm afraid not, there's still a few more left back at home." Claire mumbled, eyes groggy from both the wine and the tears. "I told Frank I'd come by sometime tomorrow to check on the few remaining items. Clothes and toys and some other things. Everything else that's left will be burned."

"Yer letting anger consume ye, Claire. I'd rather ye give them to charity. Or an orphanage." Geillis suggested matter-of-factly, "There are a lot of bairns who'd be happy to receive that beast of a playhouse. O' course that bulk canna be brought along wi' ye when ye travel to Boston, no?"

 _Of course, charity! Why didn't I think about that?_ "Now I feel like an idiot for thinking about burning the bloody playhouse, in all honesty."

"I think it to be understandable. Ye've been in a _fecking_ deep hellhole for the entire month, Claire, so if ye wish me to accompany ye in collecting those items in the morrow, especially that monster playhouse, I would. For the sake of your well-being."

She gave Geillis a look of disbelief, despite her kind and generous offer. "You're joking. Isn't it a full shift for you tomorrow?"

"Och!" In what seemed to be Geillis' fiftieth eye-roll, she slammed her palm against the counter. "Yer _oot yer face_ , fer fuck's sake. Do ye even recall that we've been sharing the same 12-hour shift for two months now?" Geillis held the stem of her wineglass with a firm grip, as though she'd whack it against the table if Claire wouldn't take it away from her grasp.

Now she didn't know who was more drunk than the other. Was it her, or the ever-spirited Geillis Duncan, who was now giving her the middle finger. " _Feck_ ye, fer leaving me Claire! Ye sexy piece o' shite."

Upon hearing this, Claire was not so sure whether she'd get mad at her, or laugh as she sputtered nonsense at her face. "Look, I understand you're disappointed, but I'd highly suggest you keep it low unless you want my daughters to begin cussing the moment they wake up." She shrugged, drinking the remaining contents of her wineglass. "I already told you about this last month, haven't I? We can't live here anymore, G. I'd barely thrive knowing that this place had been suffocating me for the past two years ever since F..." she struggled to mention the name, not wanting to recall, but she ended up forcing it out of her lips anyway. "...since Frank began to act differently."

The grief in Claire's eyes must have sent Geillis' head back in the conversation, since her brows softened, and were no longer arched as it was awhile ago.

"It's just... London reminds me of losses now, Geillie. My parents, my Uncle Lamb, my marriage, my husband, I seem to lose a lot while I'm here."

"But what does that make of me, then?" She asked. "I'm still here for ye, am I not?"

A tear fell down from the corner of Claire's eye. Her sweet, clingy bestfriend sure did not like parting with her, even if they both knew it was for the best. "I know you are, G. And I know you will be even if we're miles apart,"

Claire understood fully well that she can never blame Geillis for being a little proprietorial of her, for she had been the latter's first friend when she moved in from Scotland for medical school. They braved one class after another together, and have become each other's source of motivation and support as they pursued the dream of getting that license to heal. Claire recommended her a good place to stay during their freshmen years, somewhere just beside the university, which would eventually save Geillis from paying a hefty sum just for rent. For that simple gesture, the lady Scot was more than grateful.

During Claire's pregnancy, Geillis had been very generous to hand down her notes, and even visit her at home just to give her a recap in the day's lectures at times when her body was too weak to attend classes. Because of that great sacrifice she did just to make sure she passed the term, Claire had made Geillis not only her best friend, but also the godmother of the two little girls.

 _"I think I'm the perfect person to be their god-mam. Who else can better understand a Scot than a fellow Scot?"_ was the first thing she whispered to Claire when she first saw the twins swaddled in her friend's arms. Oftentimes, she would even joke to her privately that people would probably believe it more if she told everybody she was the girls' father, and not Frank.

Now, Claire also thought the same; albeit single, her bestfriend did have a knack for parenting than Frank did over the past years of being married to him. Geillis was so great with the girls, constantly checking on them by crashing into the Randall Residence for a morsel and a playdate, or if the shifts at the hospital kept her from doing so, FaceTime always came in handy. Leaving London for Boston was going to be a breath of fresh air for Claire—a chance to start over with a clean slate. The only thing that might probably pierce her heart as she left was the fact that she would be living her new life without hearing the shrill voice of Geillis Duncan by the doorway, telling everybody to gather round for a good pie of pizza.

As much as Geillis didn't know what to do without Claire in the picture, she too felt that parting was necessary. "Ye really do have to go, I suppose." The blonde woman languidly crossed her arms in front of Claire. "Although I'm in no position to stop ye after yer _wallaper_ of a husband put ye into this emotional wreck all these years, I really canna put into picture how life's gonna be wi' out ye, hen. Ye and the bairns have always been a part of the wee photo of the future I have in my heid, ye ken? If only Boston was just a block away...perhaps it would be bearable." She blinked up towards the ceiling, batting her wet eyelashes to dry.

"I'm sorry," Claire stood up from her seat and walked over to the other side of the table to pull Geillis to an embrace. By the time she had squeezed her tight enough as she cried, the other woman wept, hands flapping against Claire's fluff of hair. "I really am, Geillis."

"Will ye really manage? Not that I doubt yer spunk and moxie, but is it too soon to hop to the other side of the world on your own?"

"I know I can, hun." Claire heaved a deep sigh against the woman's blonde streaks. She surely was going to miss Geillis' hugs when she braves the new world.

Still flapping her hands on her bestfriend's brown tufts, Geillis stifled a sniffle. "Oh, I'm gonna miss doing this to yer wild mop of hair. What am I gon' do now? Canna stop ye."

"I'm sure Faith and Brianna's going to miss you bringing pizza over at home."

"Hah! Of course you all will." she pulled away from the tight embrace, holding Claire with both her shoulders, emerald meeting amber. "I guess I just have to make the last days count, huh. Treat ye to one last box of pizza before ye go. "

* * *

With both the decanter and wineglasses devoid from any liquor for nearly an hour, the two doctors were now sobering up; emotions were no longer at bay, and the matters discussed were no longer about the regrets of the present, but were pertaining to future plans.

"So ye already filed a letter of resignation last month, the moment ye decided to leave for good."

"I did," Claire replied. "Thankfully, finding a residency program in Boston wouldn't be so hard, given that we both passed the US licensing examination back in class."

"Saved ye trouble. At least Frank was useful in paying for school fees." Geillis slowly deposited the empty glassware go the sink and began to wash. "Aye, aye. So. What d'ye plan on the property ye'll be leaving behind?"

The woman behind her was twirling her curls with a finger as she recollected the plans she had initially. "The only property I own now is my car, since, well, the house is Frank's. I managed to find a buyer for the car last week, so I guess I'm no longer using it once I've finished hauling the other items from Frank's house."

"I can manage the selling for ye," Geillis volunteered.

"You don't have to—"

The soap bubbles in her hands went flying as she swiftly turned towards her. "I insist, Claire. You can go and focus on getting settled in your new city, get the lasses acquainted with the new environment and all. Ye can leave the papers wi' me here in London, and then I can meet with the buyer and just send ye the payment, unless of course if ye'd given the fellow yer bank account number." It turns out Geillis had planned much about how she could be of assistance to her, and Claire knew that when this woman insisted on something, there was nobody who could convince her otherwise. "Ye've got a lot on yer plate, so let me."

"Oh. Alright then, if you insist."

"Will tomorrow be the last day ye'll ever meet the F-word?"

Claire thought as she loved the way Geillis addressed him. _F-word. I'll consider using that._

"I hope so. The divorce paper's on the works. It's going to take a few months, but it will be worth the wait. Right now, we've agreed into living according to the terms even as we wait for the court's verdict." which, Claire badly hoped would work out well. If there was one thing she didn't wish to relive, it would be to be bounded as his wife over again.

Geillis nodded at that in relief. "Ye are strong, Claire. Feisty. And with the wee lasses taking on ye, I can guarantee ye'd fair well in Boston. But, promise me one thing."

Claire arched a brow—the soft arches evoking such force of character. "What's it going to be?" She asked, and her friend's doe-like eyes narrowed towards her.

"Ye better promise me ye'll live a happy and full life, something that is much better than what ye experienced now." Geillis looked at her straight in the eye. "I canna afford to see ye in misery again, Claire. I swear, if I do find out ye're back in the same hurricane," Geillis was beginning to sound comically spine-chilling. "I will come find ye, and thump ye into my suitcase and bring ye and the bairns to the Highlands."

A loud snort. "Jesus H. Christ! And here I am thinking your words had some importance. The _bloody_ Highlands, really?" Claire garbled a laugh as she playfully tugged on Geillis' long, blonde hair.

"Who needs a man? Ye'd never know ye'd be happier living among the coos up the glens. A _sassenach_ wench living the authentic Highland life would be such a sight."

" _Sassenach_?"

"Someone who doesn't live in the Highlands, such as ye." she giggled. "An outlander, to put it simple."

"I'm that _sassenach_ lady either way, Highlands or Boston. Doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"

"Doesna really. But I can tell ye'd fit in just fine in America."

In what became a long exchange of nods, Claire eventually sighed.

"I really _am_ going to miss you."

They exchanged one more hug before Geillis goaded Claire up her chair and to her room. Claire whispered a quick "good night" to Geillis before the said woman disappeared into her own room. Carefully, Claire turned the doorknob, pushing it open to reveal the spacious futon mattress sprawled on the floor; its immense size was big enough to accommodate five average-sized adults, but the only occupants of the said beddings were two little girls. Both of them were huddled and covered in their blankets and pajamas in the far end of the huge square.

Claire hastily changed to her nightware of choice: a loose, grey university shirt from Oxford, and her silk PJs, to match her daughters' outfits. As soon as she was ready to hit the hay, she crawled onto the bed, and then towards the edge of the mattress, where Faith and Brianna were sound asleep.

"Five years went by too quickly. Did it not?" her hands gently pulled the blankets just enough to unveil their peaceful, sleeping faces—with tousled copper-cinnamon tresses bunched against the pillows where their heads rested.

_God, they grow up so fast._

Brianna and Faith were fraternal twins, but for the untrained eye, it would seem as if they were identical because of the beautiful, slanted eyes and fringe of red they both shared. Apart from that, they had within them some unique, defining, physical features that could instantly distinguish one from the other; to name a few, Faith's eyes were like Claire's: an enchanting, smoky, golden-amber. Brianna's eyes, however, did not resemble much of her mother's, but of her unknown biological father, who seemed to have gifted her daughter with the most alluring pair of slanted, ocean-blue eyes. The way Brianna's irises shifted in color depending on the way light seeped through those azure spheres was remarkable in every angle. Funny it may seem, but there was a little part somewhere at the back of Claire's mind that would seldomly thank the man who helped her attain her dream of becoming a mother, and for bestowing upon her the most beautiful girls in the world.

As Claire remembered every bit and twinkle of memory, she also looked forward into spending the entire day with them come morning.

* * *

"KitKat!" Brianna shrieked in excitement at the sight of her favorite wafer bar, still well-kept inside its red foil wrapper. "KitKat, Mommy. Please?"

"Bree—"

"Please?" Her voice was sharp enough to break Geillis' glass flower face, that Claire had to put back the chocolate back inside the fridge, and crouch down before her. Clasping her hands with hers, and blowing soft breaths from the small openings the way she did with Faith last night was enough to calm her down.

"Mommy's going to give you the chocolate bar if you eat your breakfast first, baby." She blew onto her daughter's hand once more before meeting her eyes, blue irises glowing vehemently as the sunlight from Geillis' living room window illumined the place. "I promise you'll get your chocolate. Bree and Faithie gets their chocolate, alright?"

"Can I eat my KitKat first, before breakfast?"

Claire giggled, tapping a finger to Bree's nose. "Nope, not happening, sweetheart. Breakfast first, then dessert. Can you repeat that after Mommy?"

"Breakfast," She hummed in disappointment, but she obeyed anyway. "then dessert."

"Yes, lovie. You did good! Kiss kiss?" Without delay, Brianna gave her the smooch she asked for. "Yay, Bree! Always a good girl. Okay, let's go wake up Faithie—oh there she is!" Claire turned towards the one nearing the bustling area of the apartment, greeting her with a same gleeful, bright tone she'd use for her daughters. "Good morning, sweetheart!"

"Uhrrp." The other girl, Faith, sloppily dragged herself one foot after another while rubbing both eyes with her tiny hands. Her cropped auburn hair was just as disheveled as when Brianna first entered the kitchen, but Claire thought Faith's would be a quicker fix, compared to the other who had her long mane in the most troublesome of morning tangles and bunches.

"Oop! Here comes Baby Number Two." Geillis made a quick glance towards Faith, who clumsily bumped onto the wooden chair on her way to the breakfast table. While Claire busied herself in settling her children down on their respective chairs, explaining for the tenth time that the KitKats had to wait until they finished their meals, Geillis was occupied in cooking them a full English fry-up.

"Is it not ironic, how I'm the one cooking an English breakfast?" she glanced behind her shoulder to look at Claire, who had already been laughing at her laughable observation.

"It's for practicality's sake," The heat of the sunlight was beginning to pour itself down on the room, and so Claire decided to tie her wavy, brown hair up with a ponytail. "You know very well how I maintain a love-hate relationship with the kitchen."

"Oh aye, I ken how ye _suck_ at cooking." It was a known fact between them both. "Ye better not rely on fastfood when ye are in Boston,"

Claire bawled at her, gaze still fixed onto Faith and Brianna. "God, no. Of course not! I'm pretty sure the place is good with lobsters and clams." She quipped, making a quick mental note to check whether her girls were even allergic to seafood.

"Mommy. KitKat?"

The banter between the two adults was put into a halt when another appeal for chocolate was made. Claire was no longer sure who among the two has asked for it, but the answer was clear:

"Breakfast," repeating things were surely exhausting, but never for these two precious babies. "and then, dessert."

* * *

The next five days went smoothly—except for that visit at the house. Other than her ruined marriage, all else worked out well. The kids were, to her surprise, were not difficult to convince. In fact, they were excited to experience the life in another world: a life that meant 'Disneyland was nearer', as she'd remember Brianna explain to her sister Faith the perks of being in America.

Claire was also not used to how her hospital shifts went by with not even the most toxic of schedules. After that little incident at the apartment door the other night, Claire had asked Mrs. Baird, the girls' daytime babysitter, to come by Soho instead of their house in Oxforshire to take care of the girls. She had been working with the Randalls ever since the girls were two years of age, as Frank and Claire were usually out for the day in work and in school, respectively. When she asked why she and the girls were no longer staying at their own townhouse, Claire was generous enough to enlighten her with what's happened between her and Frank.

She did come visit the house she and Frank had shared for the past years. With Geillis tagging along, their goal was to collect and sort out the things to be brought along with Boston, and the things to be given to the local charity. During her first visit, which was the day after she signed the papers with her husband, Frank was not there to greet them by the front door.

It was Sandy Travers.

 _"Oh, g-good day to you, Mrs. Randall."_ Growing pale by the second, the blonde homeschool teacher couldn't even look straight at Claire.

Geillis, however, was persistent in catching an eye. _"Weel. If it isn't the couch-lapping, lecherous huir of a tutor. 'Tis yer house now, then?"_

 _"I—"_ Sandy was appalled, and she did look like she wanted to cry.

 _"Listen, Candy."_ Claire narrowed and made sure she _purposefully_ mispronounced her name, one hand placed on top of Geillis' shoulder to stop her. _"I'm not here for any trouble. It's not my house now, but some of my belongings are inside, and I've come to take them with me."_

The woman immediately nodded stepped aside, leaving them enough room to pass. _"Do you need any help in getting things out?"_ She offered, but Claire declined, telling her to just sit on the couch by the fireplace, since that was where Sandy, at the graces of her then husband, moaned at every pounding thrust, screaming and panting while the poor, antique chaise longue creaked at every movement.

The moment she and Geillis have discarded most of the things from her former home—including that monstrous playhouse, she left, wishing that the couch cracked beneath _Candy_ Travers.

The second visit, which was today, only involved a few items and books she'd soon instruct Geillis to ship over to Boston in the coming months. She prepared herself for when she'd meet _Candy_ face to face again, but was taken by surprise to be standing in front of a tall man wearing a plain cotton shirt and a pair of strikingly blue trousers. His brown hair was neatly brushed up, and his dark hazel eyes hid beneath a thickly-framed eyeglasses. Frank may be a treacherous bastard, but he always had a good sense of fashion.

 _"You never told me about Boston,"_ Frank glumly said as a welcome greeting when Claire appeared at the front door. Claire was unbothered by his presence, or at least she tried not to show it. Her heart had been shattered, yes, but every piece of it bore different emotions. Regret for what happened. Wishful thinking. Disgust. Desire, at times. Hate. Love. Vengefulness. Disappointment. Haunting.

She absolutely cannot put into one word what she felt seeing him, nor will she find such each time he appears before her. Brushing her hair back, she gave Frank an impassive look with her smoky topaz eyes, evoking no particular emotion that could be felt by the other. He didn't deserve to feel any that came from her.

 _"You don't have to know."_ Claire crossed her arms. _"I never intended for you to know."_

_"Would you ask me how I found out?"_

_"No. Can I come in?"_ She attempted to cut through the door, but Frank blocked the path immediately. _"Frank—"_

 _"Mrs. Baird told me you've been looking for flights to Massachusetts. To Boston."_ He was forceful, wanting to draw out a word from her. Any word that could make them stop moving and just start having that conversation. _"While I was gone, have you...been scheming on leaving?"_

She turned towards him, utterly disgusted with the way he sounded so pained and betrayed. _"You make me sound like I'm the one who cheated. What difference does it make? A booked flight can be cancelled, but what you sticking your cock in that woman? I'm not so sure."_

He winced at the mention of his own demise. _"We could have talked—"_

 _"You moved out, you fucking bastard!"_ Claire gritted her teeth, eyes gazing from Frank and then towards the living room where the couch was supposed to be, but it was no longer there. _"You left us alone for almost a month without us knowing when you'd come back! You never begged, never even asked for forgiveness."_

_"You wouldn't listen to me, Claire."_

_"Oh, for fuck's sake, why would I listen when you never even said anything?!_ " Claire pointed out, and upon realization of it all, Frank stood silently as he took back his words. Claire was right; he never said a thing. _"When I saw you...you j-just stormed out with that Candy—"_

_"Sandy,"_

_"—and all you had to give me were your bloody phone calls for a month until you came back, with the bloody papers."_ Claire didn't even bother correcting her train of thought. Candy or Sandy, she was a homewrecker. _"Tell me, Frank. Is that not a deliberate decision to leave me?"_ Claire was not having any of his attempts in feigning his sorrow, nor any of his hypocrisy. She may be pained by what has happened, by what she saw and experienced, but she spoke her heart out with no tears.

 _"If I didn't come back wanting divorce,"_ Frank said in a low tone after she'd rest her case, _"And I found you planning to leave for Boston. Could we have talked this through?"_

That dawned on her. Maybe if Frank did come back sooner, perhaps they could have saved their marriage. Perhaps she need not move to Soho and just be living peacefully in Frank's house, as Frank's wife...

Claire instantly shook her head. _"No, none of those what-ifs. What's done is done."_

_"So you wanted this too, then. This whole marriage falling apart."_

Fall apart? Claire was so certain she never wanted any of that. Then what could have caused Frank to let go? Was it the fact that he simply grew tired of her? Or was it because the girls did not have anything of him, not even the hair, or the eyes, or the face? Did he let go of the family that they have both built simply because it reminded him of his own incapabilities?

Claire even didn't want to know what triggered his unfaithfulness. For whatever the reason was, the damage has been done by Frank, who had been found lolling on the couch with another woman.

 _"I never wanted us to fall apart, Frank." How on earth is he even making a pointless attempt in dragging me into this?_ _"You almost gave up because of yourself. When you found out about your...your diagnosis, I held you. I held onto you, telling you how much more we could do even if this was our fate. I held onto you when we both stepped into that clinic of endless uncertainties, and I held onto you when we began to raise our own little family. But you..."_

Claire swallowed momentarily, examining Frank's face, now filled with self-criticism. _"...you were holding onto someone else."_

_"Claire—"_

_"And to remind you of something that's far worse? You disowned the girls."_ She persisted, boldly taking a step in front of him. _"You said it yourself with your very own words, and this I now affirm: Faith and Brianna are not yours. So why bother?"_

Without waiting for any of his responses, Claire paced inside, scanning the last remaining items she had wrapped in bundles upstairs. She only took the three bags labelled 'TO FOLLOW SOON', while the others left in a big air-conditioning box labeled 'JUNK', which were mostly just old toys, coloring books, stained beddings and tattered clothing, were left on one corner. Coming down from the stairs, she saw Frank watching two men from a delivery company bringing in a three-seater La-Z-Boy couch, the giant furniture wrapped in tight plastic as the two burly men lifted it to the empty living room. Frank was giving them instructions as to where the couch be positioned when Claire came behind him.

 _"Where's the old chaise longue?"_ She asked as she stood beside him while watching the other men fumble around the living room with the giant couch.

 _"Hm?"_ Frank shrugged while he adjusted his glasses. _"It broke down two days ago. I had it replaced immediately, since it would be a sad-looking parlor without anything placed at the center. I guess we just have to go out with the old."_

 _"And in with the new,"_ finishing his own words made Frank tilt his head towards her. They glanced, and then stared intently, thinking how did they end up as strangers again after all the years they had spent living together. Claire cannot seem to touch him, or kiss him the way she normally would any time of the day, and so did Frank.

 _"How..."_ he paused, rethinking his own thoughts. Rarely did she see Frank be at a loss for words; for one, he was an intellectual who always had his mind alert. But this time, he just seemed to be all over the place. _"...how can you ever forgive me, Claire?"_ The strain in his voice could be heard, and he indeed struggled with his words as his lean body stood still. _"I understand it's the end of the road, but maybe at least we could part ways without harboring guilt or vengefulness. Perhaps it would be better for us to do so."_

 _"All done, Sir."_ One of the men interrupted, clapping his hands off the dust. _"I'll leave the unpacking to you, just as you asked."_

Frank nodded politely as the men quietly exited the room, leaving him alone with Claire once again. He turned back, never the one who'd leave a question unanswered.

 _"It's too late to say sorry to gain back what was lost. But never to late to save us from the burden of carrying the dark past as we move along."_ He faced her entirely, his body directed towards her as he made a heavy sigh. _"I'm sorry, Claire. I was wrong."_

Maybe forgiveness was fair. None of her plans to move away, even if it meant being with Faith and Brianna, would work if she brought along a heavy and darkened heart.

But she had to be honest.

_"I don't know if I can forgive you now, Frank. You might think me selfish, but I'm hurt. I need time. I—"_

_"It's totally fine, Claire. I, uh, understand that it isn't something forced upon."_

It was during these moments, the calm after their fights, that they would both make things right with an embrace, and Claire wasn't used to the strange, perplexing feeling of her own body competing against her mind. A part of her wanted to pull him close, to bury her face against his chest as they comforted one another, and another part within didn't want to. Quietly, she picked up the bundles of items and headed straight right to the door.

_"Good luck in Boston, Claire."_

Although she didn't turn to see Frank say those words, she had the full knowledge that the small pace that sat between where they both stood would broaden and stretch all the more. Forgiveness may still be uncertain at this point. But perhaps, Claire thought to herself, if they allowed each other to live their lives, perhaps time would make her forget there's something to forgive.

 _"Goodbye, Frank."_ She finally said before heading towards her car, stretching the distance between him and her all the more as she drove past the house. She was determined to stretch that distance even more.

* * *

"This'll be yer new address, then?" Raising the phone to meet Claire's eyes, Geillis pointed to the little green message bubble. "This one, this Beacon Hill. The one ye texted?"

Claire snickered a laugh which was not even audible with the bustling movement and noise in Heathrow's Terminal 2. They have just checked in all of their luggage, and as soon as the last bag was deposited, they all went to meet Geillis before leaving. "For the nth time, G, yes. That's the address." Faith and Brianna were a few meters away, standing—hopping, to be more specific, from one tile to another, playing a little game of hopscotch. With matching mustard-yellow jackets and backpacks, the duo hopped like ginger Duracell bunnies.

"I just wanted to make sure I shipped yon package to the right place. Dinna want the boxes to end up in Hawaii or something."

"Very funny, Geillis." They spent the next few minutes idly standing, sometimes watching Faith and Bree be their usual, active selves, hopping restlessly across the tiled floor, until Claire broke the afflictive and torturing silence between her and her longtime bestfriend. "I guess...this is it."

"It probably is, aye." the two brought closed their distance, and embraced each other, knowing that they won't be able to do the same gesture of affection as regularly as they had been doing. "We're haftae gie used to phone calls, Claire. That or I'll move in to Boston, since I canna insist on ye to stay here."

"I'll take the second offer," she laughed, pulling away to call the two girls, who had been staring at the vending machine. "Bree! Faithie! Come on now, we'll give Aunt Geillis a kiss-kiss before we go." The two three-foot-five toddlers hopped their way back, giving her a kiss and a tight hug.

"Bye-bye, Auntie G." Faith spoke in a quiet voice as the older woman squeezed her tightly into her arms. Brianna, who just finished getting her hug before her sister, stood behind. With a wistful stare, she asked: "Who'll give us our pizza now?"

"Oh, lassie! Last night's pizza won't be the last ye'll ever receive from me." Geillis turned towards the blue-eyed one, gently adjusting her lopsided pigtails to make it snug and tight. "I'll still be giftin' ye with a pie from time to time. Especially when ye promise to be good lasses to yer Mam, alright?"

"I promise!"

"I promise too!" Faith beamed as well, sending both Claire and Geillis laughing.

"That just means I'm buying pizza for dinner when we get there," Claire lovingly patted the girls' backs, which indicated that it was their 'time to go' signal.

"Weel, I willna keep ye for long hen." Geillis had both her hands to her arms, embracing herself while the too little girls waved goodbye. Claire waved too. "I'll see ye soon!"

 _Oh, Geillis_. She along with her children marched further into the building, towards the passenger gates, and shortly, towards the aircraft that would transport them to an entirely new world.

_Let it be sooner._

* * *

**_Boston, Massachusetts_ **

**_September 2018._ **

"Doctor Randall?" A man's voice approached her all so suddenly, she swore she could have spilled her coffee if the papercup didn't have its lid on. "Whoa, hey, easy. Alright, no harm done. Coffee's saved." He chuckled as he occupied the empty chair beside her.

Claire glanced to be greeted by a stocky black man, who appeared to be only a few inches taller than her. The first two weeks living and breathing in Boston's air, getting both her kids accustomed with their new cobblestone neighborhood, and getting all of her papers out and moving made it hard for her to register new people both in and outside the hospital, except for Joseph Abernathy, who did not only possess outstanding features, but also a knack for making friends. The doctors' lounge was their usual rendezvous place, and whenever their working breaks permitted them a cup of coffee, they would usually find themselves there.

"Joe!" She smiled, placing her cup of coffee on the lounge's table. "I would rather have you call me Doctor Beauchamp, if it's possible."

"Oh-ho. Who says it isn't? It's a free country, Lady Jane. I'll see to it I won't make the same mistake ever again," Joe quipped, leaning in closely beside her, "Doctor Beauchamp."

Had it not been for Joe's warm and affable character, Claire would still have been keeping to herself as she acclimatized herself in her new workplace. It would have gone that way if it weren't for their previous conversation about kids, which then led her into asking her colleague whether he could recommend a good kindergarten school around the place and Joe mentioned a few good recommendations.

"There was one private school I intentionally left unmentioned when you first asked me, Lady Jane" Joe told her while pulling something out from his white coat. "I left it out of the choices initially, since my judgmental-ass thinks that a proper Englishwoman like you might find outdoor kindergarten absurd. But here's the brochure."

The three-fold paper made a sharp _thwack_ as it hit the table's surface. "A proper Englishwoman? I'm no such thing, excuse me! Now, let me see that." She made a stifled laugh, after catching a glimpse of the big _Quiet Please_ sign posted on the wall behind the snackbar. Taking the folded paper into her own hands, she inspected the front page, bedecked with foliage and a few photos of children huddled together for a photo—one of these photos were smiling kids, lying flat on their bellies, in an actual _mud pile._

_Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ._

"Please don't tell me this is among your suggested kindergarten schools."

"I'm sorry to tell you that it is. God, you better see the look in your face, Lady Jane." Joe was dragging his chair closer to her. "Does the thought of mud and germs scare you?"

She read the top heading of the brochure, where the words _LEOCH LEARNING FORESTS_ occupied the top-half of the page.

"Mud and germs don't scare me, but it might scare my girls! They haven't even played in the dirt, as far as I can remember." The thought of seeing Faith and Brianna's terrified faces while surveying the woods and crawling on the mud lingered in her head. Surely her girls would never end up in that cover page, because they'd be crying over a single smudge of dirt in their arm.

"Are your girls even kids? Or have they been spending their years over teatime?" Joe deadpanned, and after being given the silent treatment by Claire, he retorted. "Okay, I was kidding! I get it, LJ. It may be a big leap of faith for your homeschooled girls, but outdoor school helps a lot, if getting them well-acquainted with other kids their age is your goal. It has helped in building my Lenny's self-confidence and empathy for others."

"Your son's kindergarten years were from this school?"

"Affirmative."

"And did he like it?"

"Oh, that would be an understatement, Lady Jane. My boy _loved_ it." Joe watched her peruse through the pages, looking through one page after another. "There was a drastic improvement in Lenny's confidence during his years outside with the other kids. It earned him good friends too, which led into improving his speech, his social skills, his great understanding for the bigger world. There's something remarkable about introducing your kids to the outdoors, you know. You're not just preparing these young ones for grade school. You're preparing them for the world."

He continued to talk, mostly about Lenny's experiences, which made it clear that he wasn't simply convincing Claire into trying something unconventional, but he was coming from experience. "But of course," he finally said after Claire gulped down what was left of her coffee cup, "That's one thing added to the list I gave you, LJ. How many did I give, five?"

Claire nodded. "This is the fifth."

"And that would be my last," Joe smiled, tapping her back. "Leoch is always, and I mean _always_ , my trump card for every parent asking for a suggestion, you see. Try to be a little bit loose with the girls. I'm sure it'll help them warm up in their new home."

Forest kindergarten—or perhaps Joe's remarkable testimony about Lenny's experience—did intrigue her, as it was a not-so-conventional, yet a promising learning environment. After the two years the girls spent being homeschooled about the big world within the four corners of their house's quaint study, Claire wanted to conduct her own inquiry about the forest school Joe had been talking about. Holding up the brochure he left for her at the end of her twelve-hour shift, Claire made the drive past buildings until she reached the address indicated in the three-fold. When she reached the town of Wellesley, she reduced her speed along the highway until she saw the landmark: an archway slightly hidden in the red maple foliage, bearing the words Leoch Learning Forests. She maneuvered the car inside, seeing the wide, wooden barn gates pushed to either side of the road indicating that the place was still open.

The driveway had wooden picket fences on either side that led up to the establishment's receiving hall. There were no designated parking spaces, except for the wide empty spot of gravel and some patches of grass right in front the receiving area. She could see that the place was well-lit, but at the same time was certain that nobody was there to accommodate her when she'd enter.

 _I guess I'm just parking this here._ Claire slowly stepped on the gas to park her car in front of a long, wooden trough resting sadly by the fence. Gathering her belongings, as well as the Leoch brochure, Claire stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the open entryway. "Is anybody here?" the sound she produced was faint in uncertainty. Maybe the receptionist had to take a dump? Was this place even open? Claire had only managed to squeeze in this visit because she knew her schedule in the next two days would not permit her to drive anywhere farther than Boston. She had some papers to settle, a few interviews with the hospital director, a movie date with her girls and—

"Could this be yer car, Ma'am?"

Her interior monologue was put to halt at the sound of a man's voice, and what came after that. There was a snort, a clapping of hooves, and the slightly pungent scent of horse. Then she remembered she parked her car right in front of a watering trough.

She made a brisk turn. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry, I blocked the—"

The sight that greeted her sent her to a halt. It was, as far as she could remember, her first time to see a majestic Friesian horse with her very eyes. It was rather a peculiar sight, seeing that the beautiful black stallion was sniffing the trunk of her car quizzically. Beside the monochromatic beast, however, stood a man who towered a few feet and a few inches taller than the horses' poll. By the looks of it, he had to be somewhere within six feet or more, and was no doubt a man who had a colossal, well-built physique. His right hand held onto the reins, while the other gently stroked the horse's shoulder.

But he was also, to her surprise, looking at her with a wondering gaze. Claire began to rethink if she'd seen that vivid shade of cerulean; it did remind her of her little Brianna's eyes, but then this was a tiny bit different. The way it glowed as it hit the sun's rays was unlike any other. Or perhaps it glowed differently because of the striking color of his hair—the thick, blazing curls of red—which had a slight shade of gold as the setting sun shined its rays from the red maple foliage behind him.

"Verra sorry to call ye so suddenly, Ma'am. Is this yer car right here?" He asked politely, still maintaining his position beside the horse. The way he spoke reminded her a lot of Geillis, and then she knew exactly why: he pronounced his words similarly, only with a lilt in his voice that produced a distinctive accent. And with the way he said the word 'car', the way he would naturally roll his 'r's, she knew that he was, obviously, a Scot: not just some man who had the genes, but someone who was born and raised in Scotland.

And if she were to put it in more specific terms, he was a handsome one.

What on earth was he doing here, with a horse?

"I," She breathed a whiff of the fresh forest air, but coughed when the foul odor of horse greeted her nostrils. "I, erm. I—" Another cough. "I wasn't aware the trough was being used,"

"Nae harm done," He didn't look mad about the car blocking the water trough, nor did he laugh when she hacked a terrible cough in front of him. But instead, he gave her a friendly smile, hand still patting the horse's crest. "The cars dinna come by the farm that much until classes begin, so I hadna taken out the wee parking posts for the time being. But if ye could just move yer car to the other side, ye'd do a great favor for Sleepy right here."

"Sleepy." _The horse, Claire! Sleepy is the horse, idiot._ "Of course," she said while her mind was in tangles at how a big horse had a soft name for himself. Sleepy didn't mind, anyway. He just kept his muzzle grazing around the lustrous surface of Claire's sedan, snorting and wanting to get rid of the metal object that kept him from his water break. "Is it safe to move with the horse? He won't bite me, wouldn't he?"

"Oh aye, wait a while." The man fumbled for a better grip on the reins before making a clicking sound, leading Sleepy to turn around and walk away from the car. The horse clearly didn't want to go anywhere further from the trough, so they simply kept a few meters' distance from Claire, safe enough for her to enter the driver's seat and maneuver the car slowly to the opposite side, free from any troughs or other items that might attract horses. Once she'd moved, the tall man had now led an excited Sleepy to his drinking trough, with the horse's black tail gently wagging in content. He turned around and looked towards her, giving her a happy thumbs-up.

The man seemed to know a lot about Leoch, with him knowing when cars flocked in and when the parking posts were needed to be brought out in the front. And although she didn't have much of a proof on whether a Scottish horse-wrangling giant wearing a loose black shirt and tight pants was the right person to ask about forest kindergarten before sundown, she simply had to push her luck.

"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you on a fine afternoon, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few things about this place?" Claire took out the piece of paper and handed it to him, his blue eyes squinting at the Leoch brochure. "I'm quite in a rush, and I can't find any of the staff inside. Not even the receptionist. But if you'd be so kind to tell me more about the place, then I'd be very happy."

He took the glossy folded paper from her, and looked at her momentarily with a soft expression. "That's alright. Ye wouldna have found anybody inside too. I'm the only person left to tend to the place this afternoon, ye ken. Was just giving the horse a wee ride so he doesna end up restless when he goes back into the stalls right before closing time, and then I saw a car entering the archway."

"Oh, erm. Thank you. Then this makes me all the more fortunate to find you here then."

He nodded. "Aye. So what d'ye want to know, Ma'am? Ye've got any bairns?"

"B-Bairn?" _Geillis used this for the girls_. "You mean, kids? Yes. Yes, I do. Twins, actually."

"Oh, that's verra bonny." He replied, gingerly rubbing the back of his head for a while, which exposed the taut muscles in his arm. _He's scary huge, alright,_ Claire whispered in her head, thinking about how absurd it must be to be talking kindergarten matters with a man who looked as if he could pummel her car into a large pile of junk. For what it's worth, he might be a stable boy, and she was an obstacle to his last-minute duties.

But the man seemed willing to entertain her questions, flipping the three-fold open to present her a single whole page. "The program's best fit for three to six-year-olds, ken, and several bairns are assigned to one adult instructor, making it a 5:1 student-teacher ratio. Of course, if ye'd get yer twins enrolled, we'd group them together."

Claire found it amusing how he must have noticed her rolling and stretching her neck muscles, that he decided to scoot slightly beside her, just for her to keep her eyes on the brochure than to struggle tilting her neck towards his towering figure. After making a quick turn to check on Sleepy, who seemed content just standing beside the trough, he tapped on one portion of the brochure which showed the school's daily schedule.

"In a wee nutshell, Leoch simply takes learning outside the classroom, into the farm, and beyond towards the wee forests here. Instead of toying with those blocks and flashcards, the kids are exposed to the environment around them. We go in groups, collecting wee treasures, building small houses, have playtime in the yurt, and sometimes we get to interact with the farm animals."

Claire was nodding at him the entire time. "Farm animals?"

"Oh, just patting them coos, feeding goats and collecting chicken eggs. The safe ones that canna harm a soul."

"That's a relief," Claire crossed her arms as she looked behind his ruddy curls. The sun was now setting, and the place has gone one shade dimmer. He didn't seem bothered by it though, and neither did he give any hints that he and Sleepy were in a rush. "But... are there any accidents?"

"Accidents?" He made a Scottish sound that resembled a shrug. "That's inevitable in school, much more in an outdoor one. But dinna fash, the teachers here are trained paramedics. There are the occasional slips and falls, but nothing worse than that, I guarantee ye."

"Well, what about bites?"

"Bites?"

"The bites, from insects or the snakes in the forest... Is it safe?"

"Oh, them wee creepy crawlies, ye mean?"

She made an internal laugh. "Yes, those kinds of things."

"Och, nae danger, Ma'am. It's usually the forest that the parents are most afraid of, but it is just a heavily-shrubbed area within Leoch grounds." His finger now travelled from its rest on the brochure, and towards an enclosed patch of greenery on the far edge of the grounds. somewhere within the wooden picket fence behind her car. "And besides, if there's an emergency, we'd ken what to do."

"I heard you say 'we'," countless times, actually. He folded the brochure back into a smaller, rectangular piece and handed it back to her. "Are you perhaps a kindergarten teacher here?"

"Aye, one among the many." He said it with such sentiment and conviction, and Claire saw the glint in his eyes and the curve on his lips as he answered. He was proud of it. "Why? Ye were wondering how a stable hand kens about forest kindergarten all too well?"

"No, of course not." She laughed. "I just had never..."

"Never what, Ma'am?"

She made a side eye before giggling. "I never thought a sizeable man such as you would be hanging around with little children."

"Ah," He chuckled as he looked down, trying to examine his own size of a man. "There are a number of teachers who are big and braw too, Ma'am, it isna just me. Wait till ye see some of the other teachers, that is if ye do decide to bring yer bairns here when school starts."

Claire had a more questions that came after, and he was more than prepared to give her answers that it almost felt as though he had gone through the same set of queries that parents were mostly concerned about, but he didn't waver. He explained everything, bit by bit, with the flick of his hands and his low, accentuated Scottish timbre that reminded her a lot about a Highland warrior with his well-chiseled body and strong arms, and how the bulk of his thighs could be seen with the way his black riding jodhpurs were wrapped tightly on his legs. He could don a sark and a kilt, and look like somebody straight out of 18th-century Scotland.

"If ye'd oblige me with an answer, Ma'am," she had just tucked the brochure back inside her bag when he spoke. "I can tell this to be your first time wanting to enroll the bairns in an outdoor kindergarten school, and I admire your enthusiasm in exploring such. But what could possibly be your motivation?"

"What do you mean?"

He placed both hands inside his pockets. "Weel, ye just seemed verra interested about the whole idea of forest school, and much eager to get them in."

Claire wasn't sure if talking about Frank to a stranger was the best thing to do, but she did find it necessary to tell him a little of why she wanted to investigate a new way of learning. "I was...well, back with my former husband, I was convinced to get my daughters homeschooled. Not that I'm against it," She didn't even know why she had to clarify that to him. Perhaps because he was an educator? She really didn't know. "But maybe I was just unlucky with the whole setup and eventually I realized homeschooling wouldn't be the best for my daughters."

"I understand," he replied, no longer making an attempt to unearth any bit of detail from the past. "I hope Leoch shall serve the wee lasses its purpose when the time comes."

"Thank you. I really hope so too." 

She glanced up, seeing the radiant smile on his face that contrasted the dimming vicinity of the farm. It was eerily quiet around them, with nothing but the soft chirping of the birds and the occasional snorts that Sleepy would make behind them both.

He suddenly exhaled heavily. "Alright, Ma'am. It's getting rather dark, so I shall see ye to your car before I close this place down." He gestured towards Claire's sedan—the lone automobile in that area. She smiled, allowing him to guide her to her door, but before she could open it, she turned towards him, offering her hand towards him for a shake.

"I'm Claire, by the way." She cordially said. "Thank you very much for answering my questions for the day."

Albeit the place being dim, she could see his face brighten up at the mention of her name. Holding her hand with a firm, yet gentle grip, he introduced himself.

"Ah, _Dhia_. Where are my manners?" he muttered to himself, before giving her a proper handshake, his own hand wide enough to wrap hers entirely.

"I'm verra pleased to meet you, Claire," He rumbled with a low voice. "I'm Jamie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey JAMMF's here <3


	3. Courage and KitKats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to act in the presence of fear."
> 
> The sisters brave it on their first day in Leoch, and things go smoothly with a guiding hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I could repeat this forever but I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate the comments per chapter! It was fun reading through and interacting with each one <3  
> 2\. This isn't the first time I'm posting a lengthy chapter. It's been three chapters having an average of 7000 words per chapter, so I guess I'll keep it this way. lol.

"Are you going to eat that, Faithie?"

Brianna nudged Faith with her finger before pointing towards the last KitKat stick on the table. Claire had set five of the chocolate wafer fingers before her daughters as soon as they finished eating Mac N' Cheese for dinner, just to see how the they were going to deal with the last piece of evening dessert after each of them getting two pieces of it. Bree kept wary eyes on her sister, who, seemed to be trapped in a great dilemma on what to do with the favored piece.

Pouting morosely, she looked towards Brianna. "I _want_ it." She slightly stretched her words.

"So are you going to eat it?"

"I do not _know_."

"Make up your mind!" the toddler with the longer hair grumbled. "Or I will eat it!"

" _No_! Lemme _think_!" Faith slammed her hands repeatedly on the table, her face growing to a nasty red each time she was feeling unsettled over something. Claire wanted to interfere so badly, wanting to ease the tension between the twins over one sad-looking wafer bar. She was dying to give them a clue that they could just cut the piece into two equal halves, but as much as she wanted to mediate, she also longed to see the girls' dynamics in situations like this. They may be stubborn and hot-headed at times, but if she were to take them to forest school, with them making new friends during the day, she had to know whether they were capable of sharing or not.

Surely Leoch wouldn't try to make ends meet just for the sake of two homeschooled girls joining the gang, so she had to prepare them for moments where generosity and humility was to be required of them.

Brianna waved her hands in an attempt to get Faith's attention. "Are you even thinking?"

" _I am thinking_!" replied Faith, who suddenly realized there was another person seated with them on the table. "Wait. _Mommy_. Mommy doesn't have a _KitKat_ yet, Bree."

 _Okay, now this is interesting_. Claire's eyes widened at this brand new discovery. The two little redheads exchanged silent glances, before Brianna pushed the plate towards their mother. "Mommy, for you."

Claire felt a lump on her throat, and she tried her best to stop tears of joy from trickling down her eyes, not wanting to worry any of them. "Oh, sweetheart. Thank you so much! Both of you!" Claire honored their decision by taking the offered snack with both hands, while the girls looked proud of themselves, affirming each other with their happiest of smiles at how they thought they made the right decision.

Coming home from a tiring twelve-hour shift tonight felt all the more delightful upon being a witness to her daughters' kindness. The hours spent at the hospital may have proven itself useful for Claire to get rid of any unwanted painful memory, thanks to her occasional repartee with Joe by the doctor's lounge, as well as the increasing workload given by the hospital's head director and chief physician Doctor Gascogne—who prefers herself to be called Doctor Hildegarde. 

When Claire asked why Hildegarde, the older doctor simply gave her a slight raise of a brow before saying with a deep and resonant voice: "It's just as you want yourself to be addressed as Doctor Beauchamp, even if we all know that isn't your surname."

"It will be, Doctor Hildegarde." She countered playfully. "Soon."

Being in her late fifties, Doctor Hildegarde exhibited a gaunt, overawing frame with the way that she moved and walked around the hospital, causing stolen glances from both patients and hospital staff. Her features were overwhelmingly that of a typical Hollywood witch, but behind the formidable visage was a caring woman with stalwart character. She was passionate about healthcare and medicine and it could be seen with the way she dealt with the doctors under her supervision, giving them timely updates on hospital regulations and patient concerns. She welcomed Claire to the workplace in a unmoved exterior, but in character she did feel the same warmth and sincerity that of a mother, and Claire could never be grateful enough to be led by a chief physician as hands-on as the great Doctor Hildegarde.

The increasing demand of the job kept her away from the memory of Frank too; she'd rather subject herself to physical exhaustion than go through the emotional roller-coaster all over again.

But the feeling of relief of being at the graces of kind colleagues and hands-on bosses can never compete with the joy she would feel each time she would arrive home to meet the girls, as the burdens of her heart would disappear over a shared meal, a little game of hide-and-seek in their small brownstone apartment along Beacon Hill, and a bedtime story that accompanied a few songs sung by Faith and Brianna—who, just like the recent KitKat predicament, would both battle over who gets to sing better. The girls, unfortunately, had only one standard of good singing, and that would ultimately belong to the person who sang the _loudest_. After their first two weeks in Boston screaming the lyrics of How Far I'll Go from Disney's Moana, Claire reminded herself to check on soundproofing windows online, and get them installed as soon as possible.

"Did you _like_ it, Mommy?" Faith asked enthusiastically for a feedback, as if she were the one who made the crispy treat. Brianna had the same smile etched on her lips too. They both looked ridiculous, but they were altogether beautiful.

"I _love_ it, Faithie. It's very _yummy_!" She imitated Faith's habit of stretching her words, before taking a big munch out of the wafer, gobbling everything down. The twins clapped, the way Claire would always do when they finished their meals. "Yay! All clear!"

"Good job, Mommy!" Bree punched in the air. "Good job, Faithie!"

"We're all good _girls_!" The other little one tittered, sending Claire heaving out a loud laugh. While the blissful air filled their tiny dining space, Claire affirmed herself of how things are looking up now that Frank was out of the picture.

After dinner, Claire let them share their story about how their day was with their new babysitter, Mrs. Crook. After that, much to Claire's surprise, was another round of a screamed version of the Moana song that's been on their heads for days. Claire made sure they only sung up to the first chorus before ushering them to the bathroom for a quick shower, and soon later tucked them to bed.

"It's now time for a kiss-kiss," Claire softly whispered at the final leg of their nighttime routine. The girls were now bathed and cleaned and prepared for the night, but when she leaned forward to give each of them their goodnight kisses, Brianna blocked her face from her mother's lips. "What's the matter, sweetie?" She asked as vivid blue stared back at longingly.

"Are we really going to school? Just like what you said before?"

That question drew in Claire's face a tender smile. "Yes, sweetie. It'll be fun. I told you, haven't I?"

"I know," Brianna glumly said. "I know." She repeated to herself, as though the first wasn't enough to convince her.

Right after her visit at Leoch, and that brief forest kindergarten walkthrough with Jamie, Claire came home to tell the twins about it: that Leoch was a beautiful playschool filled with all the farm animals they would encounter in their little flashcards back in London (Claire made it certain she never mentioned anything about Teacher Sandy), that there were kids their age they could make friends with, and that there were horses—one of them was a tall, black horse named Sleepy. They got excited about it instantly.

Although the concept of new friends and farm animals was gladly welcomed by both, Claire noticed them feeling quite restless and agitated about school, especially when the first day of classes approached them fast.

Tomorrow was the their first day of kindergarten classes, which explained why the twins were jittering over the matter.

"There's nothing to worry about, loves." Claire spoke of those words more to herself than to the girls, her mind going back to that photo of kids playing in the mud. _God, will these girls even oblige themselves to a little dollop of dirt?_

"What if they don't like us?" Bree asked. "I never had friends. Except for Faith. But she's my sister. That does not count."

"Me _too_ ," Faith seconded, looking more worried than the other twin.

Claire swore her heart melted and she could have shed a tear both of joy and of pity; joy for their innocent concern on how to make a good first impression on their first day, and pity for their innocent concern on how to make a good first impression on their first day.

The very same reason.

But if there was one emotion that stood out, it was the pride in seeing Faith and Brianna growing up right before her own eyes. They were becoming more self-conscious each passing day, experiencing the first few joys and concerns of a young child.

 _Maybe if Frank saw this for himself,_ she asked herself while beholding the two girls' presence, _things may have been different, I guess?_

She shook her head of any unwanted thought.

"They will like you. You're the most beautiful girls ever!" Claire said reassuringly, rolling to the empty space beside them. "And I'm sure your teachers are fun too. I met one of the kind teachers from forest school, actually," she said as she held up a finger, emphasizing the number 'one', and they lifted a finger to mirror her actions too. "The kind sir told me that it'll be fun, and there is nothing to worry about because you'll meet new friends there. He likes horses too! And the horses seem to like him very much too. You remember Sleepy, right? The horse I told you about?"

After receiving two fervent nods in reply, Claire giggled. "He petted the big horse, just like this." A hand gently grazed Faith's head, and then Bree's. "And then, he'll make a clicking noise to get the horse's attention, just like this!" She clicked with her tongue, and the girls giggled at the sound.

"Then what happened?" Bree was already taken out of her previous worriment, and so was Faith. Claire didn't really know how tonight's bedtime odds were in her favor but she thanked the heavens for that.

"What happened next? Oh, big old Sleepy followed him, as they walked together to his horsie-home."

In reality, Claire never got to see Jamie walk the horse back to the stables that day. After that firm handshake, he grinned before taking one step forward to open the car door for her. _Chivalry suits him well_ , she said to herself.

He was a true gentleman.

He wished her safety as she entered the car that day, warning her about speeding vehicles around that time, and then waved one last goodbye before she started the engine. Claire could remember making a quick glance towards the rearview mirror and still see Jamie's big silhouette in the middle of the gravel yard, watching her car speed down into the main street, until he was already out of sight.

"I _wanna_ see Sleepy," Faith yawned, while sluggishly tugging on both Claire's and Brianna's hair. "He's very _good_."

"And very smart too! Just like you both. He's curious like Faithie-girl, and rugged strong like Brianna." Claire snatched the moment of their fun colloquy in order to come up with an improvised bedtime story about Sleepy the Horse. "Sleepy was a beautiful black horse among all others, and was everybody's favorite. He loved to walk under the sun, along with his other farm companions."

"Like the _moo's_?"

"Yes, Faith. Like the cows that go 'moo', and the sheep that go 'baa'. They loved it in Leoch, especially when they saw the little children having fun during the day." Sleepy and the animals pranced around the barn with the cows and the goats at the sight of the kids, and by the time she felt that the girls were adrift into their dreams, Claire stopped.

 _And they all lived happily ever after,_ she smiled, planting sweet kisses atop each forehead before she soundlessly crept towards the door. Once she had secured a considerable distance from her daughters' room, Claire checked her phone, which had been buzzing forever against her back pocket of her jeans.

"Bloody hell," Claire felt her face fuming as she slumped onto the couch, seeing an endless cycle of messages coming from Frank. She scrolled through the message thread, her eyes simply glancing through one bubble after another. She didn't want to dwell in them much, because if she did...

_10:00 PM. How are you?_

_10:25 PM. Did you have any trouble getting a place? I know of a colleague who lives down in Cambridge._

_10:26 PM. The rent isn't that bad, but I know the place is wide and spacious enough for you, Faith and Bree._

_10:28 PM. Claire?_

_10:30 PM. Have you found a school for the girls? Classes are about to start there. I know of a place where you could hitch them in._

_10:31 PM. I know the principal. He's a man, just in case you wanted to ask._

_10:35 PM. I'm sorry. I must be rambling a lot. I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a reply._

_10:36 PM. Just wanted to know if you're doing okay._

_10:40 PM. Take care._

Claire guffawed, as she tapped on the screen before placing her phone against her ear. It rang twice before a deafening shrill chimed on the other end of the call.

"CLAAAAIRE!" Geillis was screaming in a loud, threatening noise that Claire almost flung the phone across the room. " _A'missed ye sae muckle_!"

"Missed me? G, I've phoned you every after twelve-hour shift, how on earth could you miss me?" The two laughed and caught up with what happened during the previous day instead: Geillis mentioned that the car had already been sold, and that she had already deposited her money. Claire, in turn, gave her an update on the twins' first day in forest kindergarten, how she had already paid their fees in full, how she'd spent most of the days getting them ready for a new learning environment, and how Frank had decided to storm her with messages about lodging and prep school.

At the mention of the last update, Geillis made a quivering sound of disgust. "Little piece of advice, Claire. Save my digits, as well as your new colleagues', write them in a piece of paper or in yer computer or phone's note app. And then do yerself a favor by getting yerself a new number and whack that auld cursed card down the garbage."

"I'll consider that."

" _Consider_? Claire, don't tell me ye are giving this man a chance. Ye've been put to misery for God knows how long."

Claire suspired a deep breath. "I know that, G. But he's... he's asked me about the girls. I know things between me and Frank won't be the same anymore, but if he's trying his best for Faith and Bree, then who am I to keep him from being a father to them?"

"Look." Geillis spoke sternly, seemingly trying to get a point across amidst the cacophonic noise. "Ye moved miles away with the girls to keep them both away from that eejit of a man. I ken ye as a loving and forgiving woman, Claire. But if ye'd invalidate the way F-word has thrown yer family down the drain over a series of text messages, then I'm sorry, I'd have to call ye a shitehawk."

Whatever shitehawk meant, Claire was certain it wasn't pleasant. "Are you seriously going to call me that?"

"Dinna need to. I ken you'd never give him a chance." She finally said. "Good luck tomorrow, Beauchamps. It's gonna be a long day."

* * *

"Early bird again, Fraser?"

Jamie glanced to the door where a young scrawny woman greeted him with a warm smile. Her long, chestnut hair and her heavy backpack bounced with every step she made towards the office cubicle they both shared.

"Are ye no' used to me showing up early yet, Geneva?"

"I'm quite certain you'd arrive at six in the morning for the barn animals, which is why I'm so glad that this cup of coffee isn't going to waste. Had to tempt the gods for it." She grinned at him, placing one of the venti Starbucks cups on his desk. "A random good-luck present from yours truly."

"Och, ye dinna have to, but I'm grateful." He lifted the cup and slightly pulled the lid open to get a whiff of the lively, nutty aroma of espresso. "And a good-luck gift? Why so?"

She scooted towards the empty chair beside him. "Why, it's your last teaching year, of course! Don't tell me you've forgotten?" Geneva plopped her backpack on the desk, making it land with a heavy _thud._ "Or perhaps you've decided to stay in Boston for good?"

"I havena forgotten, lass. And Christ! What's inside yer backpack, a boulder?"

The twinkle in Geneva's eyes sent his lips curving to a smile. "A laptop, dummy. Seems like you have no problems about the gift, as I can see you enjoying the scent of oozing caffeine."

"I just, erm... Don't people normally give parting gifts when the school year's at its end?"

"I just wanted to give you something, that's all." She playfully tapped on the surface of her own paper cup, but her eyes never left him. "Is it crazy, how I'm beginning to miss my cubemate even before the school year has begun?"

"I could take Jamie's cube when he leaves for that cup of coffee, Dunsany." Another voice joined in: a deep, gruff one, and both of them instantly knew that they weren't alone inside the faculty room. Jamie swiveled his chair to wave a hand to Rupert, one of the Leoch kindergarten teachers. "Will ye gift me a cup then? A good-luck gift for the birthday boy?" He teased.

"Not a chance, Rupert." A flushed Geneva scoffed, turning away from both men. The room was silent again, except for the faint clicking sound in Rupert's keyboard, and while Geneva had been blowing softly on her coffee before taking a sip, Jamie swiveled his chair to face her momentarily.

"Thank you for the coffee. And for wishing me a good year." He expressed friendliness in the smile that he gave her, but nothing more than that. The glint in Geneva's smoky-grey eyes need not be a subject of much scrutiny, as it was no secret that his cubemate and colleague, Geneva Dunsany, had feelings for him.

"You're welcome, Fraser." Geneva too was well aware that Jamie, despite being knowledgeable of her affections, did not seem to have the same sentiments and fondness. But she was fine with it nonetheless.

As he made a generous sip from the flavorful and mellow brew, Jamie somehow felt bad he couldn't reciprocate the same affection, as much as he felt bad for the birthday boy Rupert, who looked crestfallen as he sank to his cubicle chair. In a regular day, it was the three of them who arrived to Leoch earlier than the others: getting modules and props prepared, daily reports submitted, and memo updates read way ahead than the other teachers. One e-mail memo from the school's administration, however, caught his eye.

"Marsali MacKimmie. Fergus Claudel. Roger Mackenzie." He scrolled further down. "Brianna Randall. Faith Randall." He leaned onto his chair to peek into Geneva's cubicle. "Gen, there seems to be a wee error on my class list."

"Which part?"

"Can ye check the e-mail?"

She made a few mouse clicks behind the cubicle's partition. "Oh. You mean the twins?"

 _Twins._ Jamie scrooched forward on his chair to make another glance on the list. 

_Sassenach._

Did she really decide to enroll here finally? Jamie's train of thought recalled that one day where he'd seen a slender brunette lady in the middle of the gravelyard, looking helplessly lost and confused as she held up a brochure of the forest school. She said she had twins, although she didn't look much like a mother of two rowdy bairns as her body seemed lean and fit. Had she not mentioned about children, he would have mistaken her as a lass who had gotten lost along the way.

"How did ye ken they were twins?"

"Oh, that? I was able to have a quick chat with the registrar the other day. She told me she was able to talk to an English mom on the phone yesterday, begging her to keep the two girls in one class." Geneva crossed her arms. "She was just worried they wouldn't warm up in school well if they weren't grouped together."

"I see." He replied, eyes still focused on his computer monitor. "Did ye get any more information?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. But what I do know is that the mom's a doctor. She's new in Boston, and is still struggling to juggle her shifts along with other errands. Poor lady has a lot on her plate right now."

Jamie kept those details in mind as he skimmed through his students' data. He had in his class a handful of kids from non-American parents: a pair of English twins, two Scottish bairns, and a boy of French descent under foster care.

"I'll read through this later," Jamie shut his computer down and checked the time on his watch. They only had roughly an hour before the cars would begin to flock by the gravel yard; it was the very place he last saw the woman who had travelled to Leoch in her blue scrub suit, throwing at him one question after another about outdoor learning.

With more of the teachers reporting and filling the faculty with raucous noises of 'it's been a while's and 'happy birthday, Rupert's, Jamie decided to take a quiet breather by the reception area, along with his cup of coffee.

"Last leg before going home, eh?" Just when Jamie thought he had escaped the noise, Rupert showed up, following him to the entrance. "I'm surprised ye were na' holding up a phone to yer ear. Usually yer sister would give ye a morning call before work."

"Aye. Jenny." He mumbled. "She called earlier. Canna seem to bide."

"She's just excited, man! Nae danger. She'd just be surprised at how the year's gon be through fast. One blink and she'd find ye back in yer homestead." Rupert patted him on the shoulder. "Oh, and are ye free this evening? O' course ye are free. Who owns yer time, anyway?"

Jamie furrowed his brows at him. "Why?"

"I'm treating everybody for a wee dram at Ardsmuir Pub. Whisky sounds good?"

"When has it sounded bad?" Whisky always sounded good for Jamie. "Canna think of a day,"

"Me neither." Rupert replied before nodding towards the archway where two cars made a turn to the gates. "Seems like we haftae stop talking about whisky for the time. The bairns are coming in now. I'll see ye later then?"

Jamie nodded, raising his coffee to him. " _Long may yer lum reek_. Happy working birthday, Rupert." After one quick smile, the plump man took off to the grounds, to prepare the yurt for the kids' playtime. Jamie remained on his seat, watching parents come by the receptionist, and would soon be led with their kids to the yurt where they could play before the gathering circle. Jamie was also quick to assist some parents into coaxing their child into the yurt, accompanying the timid and faint-hearted ones into tables filled with crayons and coloring books. One of the boys that he brought to a coloring set was actually Fergus, one of the bairns under his care. The boy did seem to be content on his own, and so Jamie proceeded outside. He had left his coffee cup unattended; who knows if a kid knocked it off by the table were he last left it?

Coming back to the reception area to finish what was left with his coffee, he finally saw the English lady—Claire, if he recalled her name right, along with two red-headed girls. Standing by the side of the entrance, Claire was on her knees, comforting the shorter-haired lass who seemed to be crying, while the other one, whose hair was longer than the wailing girl, stood by her side.

 _The Randall twins,_ as he recalled their surnames at his class list. These two were going to be a part of his five students for the year.

It was instinct that led Jamie to pace towards the troubled trio after forcing the hot liquid down his throat. It was time he switched his teacher mode on. "Miss Claire?" He called, immediately catching her attention.

Before Claire could speak, however, the wee lass wailed.

"I don't know _anybody_!"

"Faith, sweetie," Claire hushed soothingly at the girl. "Bree is here with you. See? She's fine, isn't she? Faith can be fine about it too, right?"

She wailed even more.

"Faith, I promise you can get your KitKat if you become a good girl in school. Both of you can get a KitKat, okay?"

"I don't _want_ a KitKat! I wanna go _home_!"

"Faithie," Claire was insistent, but after a few seconds of being stuck in a tight corner, she turned to Jamie with a grimace of embarrassment before turning towards her daughter.

"Y-You remember the kind sir with the horse? The one who does the fancy clicking sounds? He's here!" She beamed towards the little one and, much to Jamie's amusement, she was successful in closing the floodgates of tears.

The little girl with the longer mop of hair eyed him then, not with suspicion, but with a look that felt as if she had high regard for him. Without neither of the three noticing, Jamie made a perturbed gulp. _What on earth has this woman been telling them about me?_

His gaze shifted from the awestruck one to the other who was busy brushing her tears away with a clumsy flick of her hands. _This girl is named Faith_ , he repeated to himself before kneeling down to meet her eye to eye.

"Hullo there," he smiled, yet still careful with the way he approached her. God knows what kind of stories their mother told them about him. "I'm that, erm, kind sir with the horse," he decided to stick to the facts.

Faith's sobs were still there, but it had softened into gentle, whispering hitches. "H-Hello," she managed to say while her hands slowly slid inside her sweater pockets.

"What's yer name, lass?" He asked, even if he already knew.

"I'm _Faith_ ," she stretched her name.

"Aye, wee Faith," He nodded, turning towards the other girl. "And what about ye, what's yer name?"

" _Brianna?_ " the lass replied as though she was not sure of her own name either, while she snuggled closer to her sister to form a joint clump of ginger-red rumples.

Jamie can't help but marvel at how adorable they were. Perhaps his last year teaching in Leoch would be a blast, after all.

"It's nice to meet ye both." Placing a hand on his chest, he introduced himself. "I'm Mr. Jamie. I'm one of your teachers here in school."

"Are you not going to ask for my Mommy's name?" Brianna interrupted, which, of course, sent him chuckling at her fine wit. The girls' mother, at that moment, flushed into a deep pink at her daughter's sudden snark.

"Brianna, that wasn't really polite, was it?" she corrected, although Jamie didn't mind. "Be kind, please?"

"But—"

"A keen lass, ye are! I'm sorry I forgot to ask yer mother." He then turned towards the older one among the three with knowing eyes. "What's your name, Ma'am?"

She smiled beneath the secondhand embarrassment. "I'm Claire. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Jamie."

"I'm verra happy to meet ye, Miss Claire," He bowed, and then turned towards the kids. "Are ye happy too, lasses?"

" _Verra_ ," Although it didn't really reflect in Faith's worried expression. Jamie offered his hand for her to hold, and she gingerly placed her little fingers atop his calloused palm. Bree followed suit, groping and fiddling on the man's fingers.

"Can ye show me happy faces then? A happy face like this?" Jamie grinned at them, and they immediately mirrored the grin. "Bonny!"

Bree gawked. " _Bunnies_? There are bunnies?"

"Brianna—"

"Oh, yes! There are wee bunnies back in the grounds, of many colors." Jamie interjected before Claire could even speak correctively towards the little girl. "We can visit them later during class. But first, let's go in to the yurt to meet and play wi' the other kids, aye?"

* * *

Jamie didn't have that much trouble in getting the two girls to wend their way from the reception area towards the big yurt, all thanks to the promise of getting to meet the bunnies up close, and the presence of Claire walking along with them.

The twins' first day in class may have had a rough start—with Faith suddenly panicking as she saw strangers walking past the entrance, while Brianna made one scornful remark after another. Despite all that, Jamie's rescue and amazing rapport with the girls took her by surprise. She had underestimated his skill with toddlers when they first met, but he managed to prove himself fit for the job with the way he helped the girls make a new friend as soon as they reached the playtent. Seeing them come out from the dark, enclosed shell of timidity and guardedness and finally sharing cute grins with the other kid made her heart swell with unexplainable joy, something she knew she was meant to feel all this time if she had not been deprived of it.

By Frank.

 _God_ , Claire bit her lip. _What took us so long?_

"The horses have already been forgotten, thanks to the bunnies. But that wasn't so bad, was it?" Jamie said thoughtfully when he turned towards Claire, but was startled when he saw her sniffling a tear. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

She nodded, eyes still moist and wet. "I'm fine, it's just... I..." The sniffles made her pause for a moment. "I just never thought it would be this smooth." Claire turned away, not wanting her daughters to catch her crying on their first day. "S-Sorry, I'm just quite relieved they made it through the big leap from homeschool to kindergarten."

"They made a bigger leap of faith than that, Sassenach. English lasses, ye all seem to be." Jamie remarked while she dried her eyes with a handkerchief.

It took her a moment before realizing he had called her _that_. "Must be that phone call with the registrar. I guess word spreads fast among the teachers here." 

"Nah. I ken because they're assigned to me."

"You're their teacher?"

"I am," Jamie crossed his arms, eyes never leaving the three kids huddled over one coloring book. "That wee laddie wi' them's another one of mine. He made a fit earlier, was beside himself the entire time until he got his hands over a coloring book. Glad they're getting along too, ye ken. It's good to get them familiar wi' faces before classes begin."

Clare noticed that most, if not all parents, stayed inside the yurt even as the teachers were already making their way inside. All of a sudden, one of the lady teachers, who introduced herself to the group as Miss Geneva, began to clap and get everybody's attention. She greeted and began to gather the kids in a circle, while the parents stayed behind, occupying the empty benches that surrounded the far corners of the tent.

"Are you not joining the kids?" Claire asked Jamie when he sat beside her. Wasn't he supposed to be up front?

"Ah, no. Not yet," He shrugged. "Gathering circles and a few bit of song-singing is usually Miss Geneva's time to shine. The teachers lead one particular program for the day, ye ken."

Claire did see that the other teachers were also seated among the parents, relating to them while the beautiful ang young Miss Geneva engaged the little ones to a time of introduction.

"What sort of activity do you get to lead the entire group of kids in?" She asked him while she noticed how the little coloring-book boy was now seated between Faith and Brianna in the circle of kids.

"I lead nature time, which includes the forest trail and the animal interactions." Jamie replied; his gaze was carrying from the kids to Claire, and then quickly back to the kids. "But we take turns with the forest trail. Me, Mr. Rupert and Mr. Angus. Just so we also have our time to focus on our class."

"I knew your assignment had something to with animals, Mr. Fraser."

He gave her a quizzical look. "Does that assumption have something tae to wi' what happened awhile ago, Miss Claire?"

"Which one?"

"Me being the kind sir wi' the horse," the way he even attempted to pull her accent sent her giggling, but she indulged him with a decent backstory anyway, telling him how his sudden appearance with a horse by the gravel yard was the cause of it all. "I guess I have traumatized ye with such a sight."

They shared a laugh, and began to talk not as parent and teacher, but as two strangers trying to get to know each other, If Claire could put it that way. He began asking her questions not pertaining to kids and kindergarten, but more about her and how she happened to end up in Boston. Claire, in return, said what her heart was ready to tell any stranger who asked: that she simply had to leave a failed marriage for the sake of the kids.

That was all her healing heart had permitted for her to say.

"Boston was the place since, well, because I first managed to secure a stint at the general hospital. I could've ended up in any other state if I didn't get the job here."

"Ye were really planning on living someplace far away, then?"

"I had to, it was for the best. My husband, he was.... well... I really don't have the right words but he wasn't pleasant."

"Ye dinna have to tell me, it's alright." He assured her. "Seems to me that there was no other way but out."

Claire let out a sigh. "You can say that. But of course the choice didn't come too easily, knowing that we didn't have any family in an entirely new city."

She was afraid with the way he would respond with that; surely teachers would raise brows on how a mother of two who'd dare to work four to five twelve-hour shifts a week. But Jamie didn't give her the judging eye. As she thought, this was no longer a conversation between a parent and a teacher.

"I see," The scattered noise inside the tent seemingly reduced around her when he spoke with his deep, resounding voice that it made her turn towards him. "That's courage, ye ken. Doin' what is right in spite of fear, or even if things are uncertain and against ye. If ye've done it for the people ye care about at the expense of your own comfort, who could go against that decision, no? Doing everything ye can for the sake of your kids is an act of courage. Canna deny ye that merit."

Despite having most parts of her heart in a mess than it is in the mending, she cannot simply resist the warmth and tenderness that he evoked, as well as the feeling of being guarded and secure with how his body faced her as they sat side by side. It was just like what she felt with Joe—being the all-genuine colleague that he was, but there was something inexplicable with Jamie's gaze. It was deep. Ravishing. Like the sea along with its ebbing and flowing. But it was not that his eyes were beautiful. It was that he looked at her. Beheld her like she was someone worthy of beholding.

Frank could've never gazed at her this way. No one did. It was different.

And Claire found it disturbing in herself that she felt comfortable in the eyes of someone lesser than an acquaintance.

"Oh, Christ. Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Jamie." She jested, breaking the stare that may have lasted for more than five seconds if she had only allowed it.

"I'm no flattering ye, Sassenach. I was just stating what's true, is all. " He pointed towards the gathering circle. "It's the bairns' turn."

She didn't even have time to process how he'd just called her a _sassenach_ again when she saw Faith and Brianna being gently guided by Miss Geneva to the center. Their eyes were restlessly looking all over the place, looking for somebody they knew until they saw their mother, standing up, waving her hand towards them.

"Oh, what pretty girls we have here!" Geneva knelt behind them, placing both her hands on each head. "It's your time to introduce yourselves to your new friends. Say your big hello now, dears."

Claire fumbled for her phone inside her red leather bag to capture the moment. Hitting 'Record', she captured the brief moment where the girls looked at each other, as if wondering who among them should go first. She thought she had guessed right, but was surprised to see Faith take one step forward.

_Oh, my precious baby!_

" _Hello_ ," she was swaying her hips as she maintained her gaze towards Claire. "My _name_ is _Faith_ Randall!"

"Oh that's wonderful! Altogether now, pals: Nice to meet you Faith." Geneva maintained her cheery disposition as she gestured for the kids to repeat after her, and they all did. _God, that woman could keep the same smile for eight long hours and never falter_ , she thought as she panned the camera to Bree, who was now up next.

"Hello, I'm Brianna Randall." She appeared to be nonchalant and more composed than her sister, but the way her hands fidgeted behind her made Claire aware that she was braving the moment.

She could never be prouder than this.

The gathering circle went on, and thanks to Geneva's patience and dedication to her craft, she was able to get to know Fergus, the first friend her daughters ever made when they entered the yurt. Fergus was the last kid to introduce himself to the group before snacks were served, and soon later, the teachers came to gather themselves into smaller clusters, each class having one round wooden table and six chairs. Jamie had also left his seat beside Claire to bond with his little group of five toddlers.

Aside from Faith, Brianna and Fergus, two other kids—a blonde girl and a boy with thick brown hair—flocked near him as he began to talk animatedly while pulling out flashcards of farm animals, making their snacktime an interactive one. Claire had been recording every bit of the girls' first day, zooming and panning the viewfinder screen wherever Brianna and Faith sat and crawled. However, it didn't help that their teacher was a big man; with his broad shoulders blocking the view entirely, Claire had to scoot a few meters to the left just to capture a better angle of the twins.

"Alright everybody! Since today is a time for big introductions, who's excited to greet our fellow farm animals a big hello?"

The yurt suddenly turned into a rowdy cubbyhole at the mention of animals; clearly the kids were looking forward to meeting them, and even the teachers expected this kind of reaction that they all knew how to calm them down. "Okay, I know. Are you excited?"

"Yes!" The kids said in unison. Even Faith and Brianna was in it.

"Alright, pals." The poise and grace of Geneva was still just as lively as it was when she first appeared. "Before we visit our friends from the farm, we need to have a set of rules. Let's call on Mr. Jamie to give us a few instructions, okay?"

He stood as he was acknowledged, head almost hitting the roof of the tent. Jamie did mention that there were other teachers who were sizeable, but none of them came close with the broadness of his shoulders, or even his towering height. "Hullo, hullo!" he waved, putting his hand near his chest. "Now that we've made friends with everybody here in the tent, it's time for us to go out and introduce ourselves to our farm friends. Can ye give Mr. Jamie a wee thumbs-up if ye're all excited? Just a thumbs-up," he gestured, bunching his hand to fists while lifting a thumb for them to see. Everybody followed, necks cocked towards the towering figure before them.

"Okay. Verra good, everybody! Now, I've got three rules. The first one, kids," Jamie held out one finger, and then slowly placed it against his lips. "Can somebody tell me what this means?"

" _Quiet!_ " One of the kids from Jamie's little circle gave his answer opposite to its meaning.

"Aye, ye got that, Roger Mac! We have to be whisper-silent. We dinna want to scare them with our noise, aye? So we have to be whisper-silent when we visit them. Can ye make the whisper sound wi' me?" With his voice decreasing into a soft whisper, Jamie and the kids made a hushing sound in unison. "Now onto the second rule, it's two, like the peace sign here," He held up two fingers, affirming each one that copied his gestures. "We have to be peaceful wi' them and be gentle. Lastly,"

The kids didn't even wait for him to hold three fingers up, as they already did it. "Wow! How'd ye ken three was next? How clever! Yes, it's number three. We'll be visiting three places this morning: the chicken coop, the rabbit farm, and then the cows. So, again, can ye tell Mr. Jamie what's Rule One?"

Both teachers and kids made hushing noises together.

"Wa' bout Rule Two?"

V-signs were given back as a reply.

"Aye, and number three—which I dinna think would need demonstration." He then invited everybody to stand up for a little stretching exercise before leading the group of students and teachers outside, trooping along in a single-file.

Parents were only allowed to watch their kids by the picket fence. And although some of the parents decided to just stay by the yurt, Claire was among the ones who went out to see her kids be introduced to even more of the environment around them. From afar, she could see Brianna and Faith pootling along with Fergus and the two other kids as Jamie led his group first towards the farm animals. She saw Jamie kneeling down as he placed a baby chick on top of his palm towards the group of children, gesturing for them to say hi to the feathered creature before giving the little bird a gentle finger-pat on the head. The other teachers also had scooped up a chick for their class to see, but Claire was entirely focused towards Jamie's class, seeing that Brianna already had the chick on the palms of her hands.

"I'm holding it, I'm holding it!" Bree struggled to keep her voice to a minimum even in her excitement. Beside her, the four other kids observed and waited for their turn. Claire managed to take a photo before Jamie picked up the bird from Brianna and placed it atop Fergus' palms. It was a shame that the rabbit farm couldn't be seen from the fence; Claire had wanted to capture a few moments from their first encounter with the bunnies, but she trusted enough that the days they'd spend in Leoch would reduce the rabbit farm's significance into a common sight.

The kids won't be heading back to the tent until lunchtime, as they would be spending the remaining hours of the day outside. This simply meant Claire had more than enough time to go through one photo after another.

Scrolling through her phone's camera roll, she was misty-eyed with tears of joy and pride as she reviewed photos of her daughters' happy faces in a group of new people. Some of the photos she took even had their teacher hovering beside them, making their hair's strong shade of golden-russet beam vividly in the sun.

By noon, a loud bellowing of chants began to near the tent's entrance. Jamie led the group into a chanting rhythm of the song _I Love The Mountains_ as they all marched inside, and Claire, trying to cork a snicker, noticed how Geneva was singing raucously to hide Jamie's obvious lack of skill for singing.

"You're out of tune, Mr. Jamie!" And there it was: yet another ribbing remark from the ever-stubborn Brianna Randall as soon as the big group broke into their small classes for lunch.

 _Jesus H. Christ_. Claire dropped her forehead into her hand as the group laughed, including Mr. Jamie, who seemed unaffronted by her daughter's straightforwardness. "I ken lass. Poor Mr. Jamie canna sing," he confessed to the group of kids as he helped each one out with their lunchboxes. "But since we'll be spending some time together, can ye and the others help me wi' my singing?"

"Yes!" The five of them nodded, carrying on with lunch. Claire kept watch on Jamie's little group of toddlers until a smiley Geneva reappeared into the center of the yurt, calling everybody into a closing gathering circle. Once the kids have cleared their lunchboxes and helped wiping the table clean, the teachers helped them drag their chairs to the center.

The little goodbye song Geneva began to teach the kids distracted Claire from even noticing that Jamie was already making his way towards her. It was only when the bench faintly creaked at the weight of someone heavy and the way that the air wafted with a familiar scent of musk, pinewood and Jamie did she realize he was sitting beside her, phone in hand.

"I took some photos." He uttered, not with the animated voice he used for the kids, but with his normal voice—which was low and deep-toned with hints of his dialectal brogue. "The rabbit farm's hidden behind the stables, and I thought ye might want to keep a souvenir from their first day. They saw Sleepy too, but only from afar."

 _He knew._ Claire smiled, taking her phone out. "Airdrop?"

"Aye," He tapped on his phone and in a second, photos of her two girls appeared on her phone. Each of them cradling a rabbit in their arms as they smiled for the camera.

_They look so... happy._

Claire felt her heart swell with so much joy that she began to shed tears again.

"These are priceless photos, Mr. Jamie. I'm really happy. I erm, never thought they'd be able to fair well in a new place, with new people—"

"It's all courage, Sassenach." Jamie made a quick remark, while watching her swipe through one photo after another. "That was courage right there. Where else could they learn that best other than by looking at their mother?"

"You're not just a flatterer, alright. You're an observant one."

He feigned an offended look. "I'm a kindergarten teacher. Being observant is a skill that is essential to my job."

The kids began to disintegrate from the gathering circle, culminating the kids' first day of school. Faith and Bree began to hop towards Claire with their bags after saying their farewell to their classmates, catapulting themselves to their mother's arms. "Oh, beautiful loves! Did you have fun?"

"I did, _Mommy_!" Faith hugged. "Bree _did_ too,"

Brianna scoffed, all too proud of herself. "Faith did not hold the chick."

"But I got to _hold_ the _bunny_!"

"Everybody _gets_ to hold the bunny, Faith! Don't get too proud of it." The two continued squabbling until Claire intervened before they could even begin screaming at each other.

"Alright, girls? What did Mommy say about quarrelling? Not good, right?" Claire said with a calming tone. "What was Mr. Jamie's first rule again?"

The mention of their teacher sent their slanted eyes shifting to Jamie, who had already managed to move a few meters away from Claire as soon as the kids went to her. Claire watched him shaking his head to get their attention, making his thick, wavy hair bob with the motion. He clenched his fist, leaving one finger pointed upward, and pressed it against his lips.

" _Quiet_ ," they said in chorus, mirroring the man's actions. Claire grinned, pulling them back into her arms and planting warm kisses on each girls' cheeks.

"Alright. Before we go, a promise is a promise." Claire gently stood from the bench, still addressing the two toddlers as she searched inside her bag. Seconds later, she produced from her bag two square-shaped chocolate bars wrapped in red foil paper.

Faith instantly gasped in excitement. " _KitKat_! We're good _girls, Bree_!" They hopped wildly, hugging each other after braving their first day; it was gratifying for Claire to see that their joy of receiving the chocolates have come from the affirmation of their good character, and not just for appeasement.

After receiving their wafer, the two of them thanked their mother before speeding outside the yurt along with the other kids who also went out to play before going home. Claire followed, but before exiting the tent, she turned towards Jamie and found him still sitting by the bench with his elbows perched on his knees. He was busy tapping on his phone when she approached him. "I'm really thankful, Mr. Jamie."

He looked up to meet her with a warmhearted smile. "Ye can call me Jamie when the kids are no' around."

"O-Okay," Claire felt her ears becoming rubescent at that brazen remark. "Thank you, Jamie. I hope they weren't such bothersome children to deal with."

"Och. They weren't," He grunted as he stood up, this time making Claire the one cocking her head to meet his eyes. "But even if they were, I won't treat them any less than what's expected of their teacher. But dinna fash, I had quite a good run with the two o' them, along wi' the three others. It's a relief, ye ken, seeing two more wild ruddy bairns in Leoch other than the one I see when I check the mirror."

Claire laughed, "You actually think of yourself as a child?"

"Just for the time being," He offered his hand, palm opened wide as if he was waiting for her to plop something on it. "I believe ye and the lasses live by the proverb: 'The good, ginger-haired kids get the KitKat bars at the end of the day', yes?"

"Did you just make that up?"

"Yes, but ye canna discount the truth." Now he was playing. "I'm good. And a ginger too."

"But you aren't a kid."

"Not _yours_ , I reckon. But a kid, nonetheless. "

As much as she wanted to keep herself from her amusement, Claire couldn't help but snicker. Then came a chortle.

Until she convulsed with the loudest of giggles in front of him. It was the first time, after a long tearful month, that Claire had broken into a fit of laughter.

"Just wanted to make ye laugh, is all." He grinned, quickly placing his hands inside his pockets as he too stifled a laugh.

"God. I could bloody never think a grown man like you to have such an uncanny sense of humor..." She crossed her arms, heaving deep sighs to ease herself from her humor. "Anyway, I should get going. I'm really grateful for all of this, the pictures, the laughs, everything."

"Ye can save the thanking at the end of the year, Sassenach. The year had just begun."

"Maybe I'm just really grateful, I had to tell you how relieved I was. I never..." she sighed in content, her expressions free and relaxed. "I have never felt this happy for a long time."

They stood transiently, taking in the way today had been both a blessing for them both. Jamie expression was all well-pleased and glad, although his fingers were nervously tapping against the fabric of his jeans. Claire noticed that slight hint of nervousness in him, even if he did seem composed before her.

"Ye can, erm," He cleared his throat, "process the bairns about how their day went by the time ye get home. It'll make them come prepared for Thursday,"

"Of course, I'll keep that in mind. Bye then, Jamie," She replied, waving at him before turning away.

She never heard him say goodbye when she began to walk towards the yurt's door. But Claire could only imagine the astonishment in his face by the time he would look down on his bench seat to see a KitKat bar resting behind him, a handwritten note coming with it. She had managed to place the chocolate on the bench while he was busy tapping on his phone earlier that he must have not noticed it there the entire time they began talking. He may not be a kid, but he'd been a good teacher—a breath of fresh air not only for both Faith and Brianna, but for Claire as well.

 _The good, ginger-haired kids truly get the KitKats at the end of the day,_ she smiled. 


	4. Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confronted by what seems to be a key that would lead him closer to his questions, Jamie is torn between searching for answers or accepting things as they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, now we get to hear Jamie's side of the story!
> 
> Thank you again for your comments! I'm deeply filled with delight interacting + hearing from y'all. ❤️ I hope you had a pretty amazing valentines' day btw, as I did ^^ (hence the late update?? Hahaha loljk)
> 
> Enjoy!

_September 2018_

_Boston, Massachusetts_

The streets down Mass Pike bled with the glow of the vehicles' bright red lights. Unfortunately for Jamie, this heavy influx of cars will not make it possible for him to arrive at Ardsmuir Pub in twenty minutes; normally, the pike would serve as a speedy slide downtown, bringing any person from Wellesley Hills to the city in a jiffy. It wasn't his first time using the pike though; being someone whose workplace was a few miles away from Boston City, he had to take the fastest journey to Leoch in the morning, but Jamie Fraser had only seldom used this route in his travels back home.

Which explains why he had not anticipated the massive amount of motorists that flocked the tollgates by sundown. At least, not on a Tuesday.

He didn't eat much during the day knowing that Rupert Mackenzie would be treating the Leoch gang with a birthday smorgasbord of Buffalo wings, lobster rolls, roast beef sandwiches and cannoli (not to mention the free drams of whisky waiting for all guests at the pub). Luckily, he knew he still had one more snack left on his rucksack to keep both mind and gut away from the bitter frustrations of being caught in heavy traffic. Taking the bottleneck of vehicles and impatient motorists to his advantage, Jamie reached for his dark-leathered backpack seated behind his own car seat. And with two tall and strong fingers, he pulled the backpack's outer zippers open to reveal a KitKat bar. Pulling it out brought his mind away from the hunger pangs of his belly, transporting him swiftly into the memory of Miss Claire's bonny face, all pale-skinned, but with a hint of blush and some freckles splayed across the apples of her cheekbones. Her eyes, as he would recall, glimmered like fine whisky in the warm light of the yurt; its creases were dusted with a faint warm shade of hazel eyeshadow.

"Mmphm." He smiled outwardly towards the wafer bar on his hand, but inwardly at how he even managed to get a reward from her. For Jamie, simply seeing her relieved after her kids' first-day mayhem had already been more than enough to count as a reward; he'd seen her wear various emotions in just the first day: that which evoked frustration, relief, excitement, wistfulness, and even the look of tearful contentment.

Above all, Jamie was already more than content to see her laugh at his wee display of his sense of humor earlier that day.

While peeling the foil wrapper open, a grin came out of nowhere when he recalled how she made a failed attempt to zip her lips from giggling, just before she bid him farewell. There was just something in the manner she breathed joy that poked his curiosity; it was either the way her voice reminded him of elegant silver and fine champagne when she giggled, or how her deep amber eyes crinkled as she curved her supple-looking lips into a warm smile. With that sultry, yet bright tone of voice, Jamie thought she had a giggle that sounded like a sweet symphony to his ears. To add, she had the most adorable pair of daughters...

 _Eejit_. He ripped the wrapper too much the contents of it almost fell on his lap.

_Keep it together, man! She's married!_

In truth, it was not that she was married that kept him unsettled. Her failed marriage was no secret; in fact, she had found it necessary that anybody she encountered knew that she was in the middle of a divorce, him included.

It was those two little girls that had added up to his Tuesday-Thursday schedule.

He knew the KitKat was from her; apart from the fact that he had not sat next to anybody other than her, he also knew that Claire Randall— _was Randall her maiden name or her husband's?_ Jamie thought—as what he had observed by the forest school's doorway, had those chocolate wafer bars as a reward for the kids' good conduct. She must have slid it next to him when he had been busy floundering his thumbs on his phone screen. When she left, he found the wafer resting beside where he sat with a wee heartfelt message.

The only thing that was unexpected was that the note was not written by her. It was easy to tell, unless Claire was not too keen with her spelling and grammar, which was unlikely.

> _SEPTEMBER 17, 2018_
> 
> _DEAR KINDER GARDEN TEACHER: TANK YOU FOR TOMORROW._
> 
> _— FAITH_
> 
> — _BREE_

It was a note they had penned _yesterday_ , with a seemingly illegible penmanship using a black ballpoint pen that looked like one of Bic's variants. There were a few dirty scribbles on it too, with another different colored pen, as he'd seen two lopsided smiling faces at the bottom-right corner of the sticky note, and a little swirl of red ink on top of each sloppy drawing, to make a little illustration of the ones who wrote it. Nonetheless, Jamie could read the wobbly letter, and he treasured it so much that before leaving the yurt, he immediately folded the note into half and tucked it inside his wallet's photo slot, just behind the photo of his mother.

"You're the only happy driver in this sea of hot-headed, impetuous bunch of motorists, Fraser. Does the heavy traffic pleasure you so much?" Geneva, who was seated beside him, remarked at the sight of her driver's curving cheeks. "I could see the car right beside us, if you haven't noticed. The driver's been cursing on his seat for three bloody minutes since we stopped, and I can honestly say I'm more than grateful I've got you as my companion. Can you imagine if I rode an Uber back to the city, and not hitch a ride with you?"

"I do get the wee road rages at times," he said as he broke one of the KitKat fingers with one hand, and chucked it in his mouth. "Maybe those other lads just dinna have a snack to go along wi' them. That's the thing, along wi' good music, that would at least keep ye sane in this situation. Do ye want one?" Jamie offered the chocolates to Geneva, who politely declined.

"I do recall there is a _feast_ waiting for us at Ardsmuir, so I'd rather get my stomach empty enough to gobble loads of the food and drink." Geneva quipped, while Jamie broke another hardtack finger from the wrapper.

"You're excited about going to Rupert's party, but ye gave him a rather harsh treatment earlier today, if I recall. You're crashing the party just for the food, then?"

Geneva rolled her eyes towards the man. "Seriously? You think I'd give his coquettish schemes a pass simply because it's his birthday? Unbelievable." She huffed all the more after noticing that Jamie remained unbothered, rubbing his stubbled chin as he rested his head against the cushioned seat, waiting for the black sedan in front of them to inch forward. The muffled munching sound of biscuit and Jamie's chocolate breath filled the car instantly, not that Geneva found it unpleasant. In fact, she had both her long, slender hands gripping tenuously on his car's seatbelt when a covert thought of how his lips would taste entered so suddenly, especially with his bottom lip and his golden-red whiskers still having a few wafer crumbs resting on its surface.

She maintained her side-eye towards her seatmate until he'd stepped on the gas abruptly, making her jerk back to the seat. "What the hell!" she bleated at the sudden impact.

"What now?"

"Had you stepped on the gas slowly, I would not have bitten my tongue."

"Ah," Jamie made a thick Scottish growl that may have also counted as an amused chuckle. "Had ye no' been starin' at those two laddies blaitherin' in the other car," He cocked his head towards the pick-up truck beside them, where two college boys were tirelessly bobbing their heads and screaming their hearts out over Radiohead blaring from their loud stereo, "Ye wouldna have injured yerself."

"I wasn't looking at them," she grumbled in a voice soft enough for Jamie not to hear. Thankfully, the loud singing of the boys helped in keeping her unheard.

They moved roughly several meters away from their previous stop down the pike's entrance moments later. While she helped Jamie with a flask of water to rinse the nutty scent of sweets from his mouth, Geneva's mind had been able to grab hold of another racing thought. This time, it felt rather important to tell him. "You know what, James Fraser?"

"What?" He asked after a drink from his water container.

"I find your Tuesday club quite remarkable this year. You never seemed to get a...well, a _unique_ set of kids until this year."

"Unique, ye say. What do you mean by that?"

The car inched forward again, leaving them with just a short five meters away from the pike's toll plaza. "I managed to check on the kids' enrollment data as soon as the parents were gone, you know, back at the faculty where I was left to finish a few deskwork the entire afternoon. I found out that among the teachers, you're the only one taking care of kids with quite a colorful background."

"I dinna quite understand what's that. Colorful?"

"I'm saying they're either adopted, or under foster care, or living with divorcee parents."

By that time, Jamie had already entered the highway and his car was on the move, driving past one vehicle after another. "Ah. Well, aye. I ken wee Fergus is under a program. Have seen him in one of the agencies a few times, but I'm glad he's found himself another set of guardians. I also have an idea about the twins' case." He didn't see the need to tell Geneva how he had learned about it through Claire herself. "What's up with wee Roger and Marsali?"

"Well, Roger's an adopted son of Reverend Wakefield, if you're even familiar with the Presbyterian minister. Roger's a cute fluffy boy, isn't he? It's a shame he lost both his parents in an accident."

"Aye. He's One of the sweetest lads in the bunch. Soft and gentle features all o'er him." Jamie stepped on the gas more, maintaining a speed of 40 kilometers an hour. "Wa' bout Marsali?"

"Her mother's just like Miss Randall."

"Mrs. MacKimmie doesna look anything like Miss Randall."

"No, silly. Of course not." Geneva laughed. "I meant that she also just got off from a terrible abusive relationship."

"Ah," Jamie nodded. "Aye, well. I guess they do have something in common."

"You do realize how special these group of five kids under your care are, don't you? Either they're strong little souls, or they're a ticking time bomb that could explode if they experience any sort of physical or emotional trauma. Or anything that resembles or triggers it."

"Aye, I ken that." He raised his brows to affirm her as he drove down a tunnel; as much as Jamie wanted to engage in the conversation, he also didn't want to crash their car in the dimmed underpass.

Apart from the friendship, Jamie was grateful to have Geneva around because of her keen attention to detail when it came to the students; if there was one person among the faculty who'd be able to gather information about their kids' background, it was either the registrar, or Miss Geneva Dunsany, who, apart from being a kindergarten teacher, was also a licensed child psychologist. Albeit being fresh out of the examinations and still in garnering yesrs of experience, Geneva had already proved herself useful in addressing the needs of each kindergartner by getting the teachers oriented.

"Ran out of muesli bars today, huh? I never knew you were a KitKat kind of guy too." Geneva shifted on her chair to face Jamie again, who, without keeping his eyes off the road, laughed inwardly at the observation. "Do you ever run out of surprises, Fraser?"

"It's life that takes pleasure in bombarding me wi' surprises, Geneva. No' me."

"And is that supposed to be a good thing or...a bad one?"

"Weel," He raised his shoulders fleetingly as he pondered on the question. "I've never loved surprises. But this time around, I dinna ken yet."

"Oooh, this time, huh. But so far, do you like it?" she prodded, "Her, rather?"

He felt his ears heat up. "Who?"

Geneva giggled, rolling her eyes to sit back and face the road. "Oh, come on, Jamie. It's not like you're going to simply forget her name after working close up with her daughters. You even managed to make yourself worthy of a snack, correct? I saw little Faith and Brianna with the same wafer bar."

"Christ. It was from the weans, Geneva." Which was true, based on the note. Not wanting the curious colleage to psyche him further with her questions, Jamie turned the car stereo on, and rode in silence for the rest of the trip, with nothing but Louis Armstrong's gruff voice and the mellow jazz tone of his saxophone wrapping the car in a warm 50s atmosphere.

* * *

They both arrived just about five minutes after Angus Mhor, which thankfully meant that they weren't that late. The boys had already begun downing the whisky by the bar counter, while the lady teachers were huddled together in one round table over a game of Uno. Geneva immediately took her leave by his side to join with the ladies, while Jamie made his way to the men who hollered for him to sit with the group lined up by the counter.

"Aye, if it isn't the whisky-thirsty laddie!" Rupert cackled as he handed a dram to him with one hand and with the other came a strong pat that hit him squarely on his back. "Come here, Jamie lad! We were hoping ye'd come earlier! Must be famished, aye?"

"I got caught up in heavy traffic by the pike," Jamie explained, patting Rupert's shoulder with the same strength that matched the impact he felt earlier, before scooting towards the empty barstool beside the celebrant. Taking a piece of the roast chicken served on a platter, Jamie greeted his seatmate as he munched. "Happy birthday, man. Only two, three drams for the night, I suspect?"

"Ye can have more if ye've got no classes tomorrow." The birthday boy swerved his chair to face him squarely, knee against knee. "Sadly, we all have bairns to teach and—"

"If only ye scheduled yer wee gatherin' on a Friday night and no' in the middle o' the week, then we wouldna be thinking about a hangover in class, ye numpty." Angus, who was seated on the opposite side of Rupert, exclaimed before raising a glass to the men. "I suppose we've got to make a grand toast before we begin tae sip on the usque!"

"And make it last til' our man, John Gray closes the pub!" Rupert led the group into an exchange of loud bellows of laughter "Make it last by sipping on it!"

"To life, and to a life well-lived for ye, my friend. May ye schedule yer next birthday party on a weekend, where we dinna need be worrit of Principal Colum in the morning. Slainté Mhath!" Angus declared, and the men raised their glasses before taking a thin sip on the crystal glass. Jamie and the others tried their best not to gulp down too much, lest they'd settle for ale for the rest of the night. Whisky was something he and the other gentlemen were fond of sharing over the summer weekends, and they would often wind up at Ardsmuir Pub for a dram or two (in some cases, they empty the bottle in one sitting). Now that it was the start of the school year, they too had to bid goodbye to their nightly sacred whisky gathering, and if they cannot keep themselves from a dram, at least they could only limit it to one. Or two. _Or unless._

After dinner, the men had already foreseen the need for ale and lager, and so they began to secure their bottles as soon as their whisky game was drawing to a close.

"Say, Jamie. Are ye and Miss Dunsany... um, ye ken," Rupert swerved his chair towards him again. "I saw ye both enter the pub together, so Angus and I were thinkin' perhaps ye've finally given in wi' the lass?"

Jamie lifted a brow in surprise. "Nah, ye're mistaken. She had some work left by the office while I was busy tending to the stables. Didna want the lass to grab an Uber when we were both going to the same place."

"Ye ken she likes ye, no?" Angus suddenly peered from behind holding up a chicken drumstick, its bony end wrapped in tissue paper. He said it quite loudly with a voice that, if Geneva was paying much attention from where she sat with the other lady teachers, she would have given him a glare that would tell him she would kill Angus come morning. "It's either ye do ken that, Jamie, or ye're a shat-headed bampot no' to see that!" The man made another nervous peep behind Angus, examining whether Miss Geneva was giving him the death glare, but much to his amusement she seemed not to be paying much attention to their loud bickering and was too preoccupied with the Uno game.

The birthday celebrant cackled. "Oh, hold it! No, no, I definitely saw something different today. It isna Dunsany he's smitten with, Angus."

"Who's it then, man?"

"Jamie wasna' himself, the entire time. I could see him, his wide eyes I mean, just starin' over at..." Rupert shook his head to bring forth a memory hidden from his slightly intoxicated mind. Finally, when he remembered, he swiveled his chair to now face Angus with a tilted grin. "Ha! Something's going on wi' Jamie and that sassenach wench wi' the redheaded bairns! Christ, what is it in ye, foolish dolt? Of all women, ye'd fancy a mother?"

Jamie grunted. Seriously, was this going to be a night of interrogation? "I—"

"Ye, be keeping lasses and married women aff their heids when they see ye work yer magic in dayschool. Have ye sensed it, Angus? Our Jamie lad here's been left talkin wi' Miss Randall at the end of the class. Not just the end of the class if I recall—"

"Rupert, will ye hauld yer weesht?" Finally getting his turn to speak, Jamie quickly hovered at him with a forceful whisper, stopping him with a firm grip on the man's arm—firm enough to to make him wince. "None of that tonight, aye?"

"Oh. It's true, then? Ye have a liking to the lady?"

"She's marrit," He said it dismissively.

"So what? Do ye like her or no? You are not answering the question, man."

"I just did." Jamie growled, but Rupert gave him a look of disbelief.

"Come on, be real here, Jamie. We all ken the lass is just as good as single, though she still has his name." _So Randall wasn't her maiden name_ , Jamie confirmed.

Rupert patted the top of his wavy mop of red. "Not that I'm goading ye into pursuing her, ken. But that truth alone seems like a good enough reason to have erm, a wee bit of hoping, maybe?" Rupert sipped on the tiny few ounces of whisky left in his glass before he resumed talking. "For what it's worth, that red-haired bastard of a husband left her without knowing what he'd just lost. A bonny lass, Miss Claire is. And still a winsome woman, for a mother of two. Canna blame ye if ye'd blush over her."

"Consider yerself lucky she wasna scairt of ye today, lad." Angus quipped, his chicken drumstick now skinned to the bone.

"Why so?"

"Because ye wouldha reminded her much of her loathsome ex-husband. I mean, I wouldna need to take a closer look at the weans to tell that their auld man was a rouge! Much like ye, but he an eejit he was!"

While the two men laughed with their stomachs, Jamie was flush to the bone, both in shame and agitation. "Alright, Angus, time to shut yer gob—"

"Or," Rupert added. "She might still be verra much potty about her man that's why she had a soft spot towards ye." He hiccuped, then leaned in to whisper teasingly towards Jamie with the foul breath of whisky clinging onto every word. "Must ye put yer looks to your advantage this time, lad? Take on the other man's shadow, then?"

Jamie whined, slamming his hand against his forehead. "Christ. Are ye no' going to shut up?"

"No," The two bickering men said in unison. It was obvious that perhaps two drams and a few bottles of ale may not give them a hangover but was potent enough not to keep their mouths shut. And so, while the two whiskered men were too lost in their thoughts, Jamie took his leave from the pub.

God, was that suffocating.

If the car ride with Geneva had been intimidating, the sitdown with a lightheaded Rupert and Angus in the middle of a crowded pub had been a pain in the ass. Jamie thought perhaps Rupert would not mind if he suddenly went missing earlier than when he'd promised to leave, and so he made a staggered beeline towards his parked car.

"That was a tiny bit tormenting back there." A man's voice echoed in the dimmed parking lot. "I could almost feel you heat up where I stood." It came from behind him, just a few steps away from the pub's entrance.

Instantly recognizing the voice, Jamie knew it was none other than the storeowner, so he didn't see the need to turn back. "Aye, John. Quite a scene, was it not?"

"They were a little drunk. The unnecessary parts, they'll forget."

"But I won't." He shrugged, moving closer towards the car. Footsteps suddenly paced behind him at a rate that would, if Jamie maintained his walk, catch up with him.

And true enough, the man did, finally reaching with a firm, yet warm grasp on his shoulder.

"Right. You won't forget. Do you want to talk about it instead?" John suggested more than he was inquiring, sincerity worn all over his deep voice. When he felt Jamie's towering body stiffen at his touch, he jerked away immediately. "Erm, you might not want to, actually. But I could sense that there is a need for you to tell someone." John paced forward to finally meet him, face to face. "I am _that_ someone, Jamie. At least for now, I am."

Jamie, still hesitant and overcome by his colleagues' tipsy taunting earlier, knew fully well that the man before him was making sense. He needed to talk to someone.

Someone who knew his circumstance more than any other person in town.

Jamie had first encountered John Grey on his first night in Boston. A well-mannered gentleman, he was—something Jamie never expected from a chap who worked and managed the family-owned Ardsmuir Pub, a hip local bar that stood proudly just a block away from the Commons. It served heaps of guests both locals and tourists day and night, which is why it was much to Jamie's amusement that the pub's host was not only the standing calm amidst the pub's daily bustle, but was also very accommodating towards him, to the point of being quite affectionate.

Jamie considered them as fast friends, with both of them immediately bonding after a few drinks on the house, and a few chess games—most of them were Jamie's victories, something he took pride of. With the manner in which John conducted himself towards him, Jamie also liked to believe that the man felt the same way about their friendship too.

He hoped it didn't go beyond that, but apparently that was not the case for John.

"I dinna want to talk about it. Not now," Jamie finally declared, forcing his hands inside the pockets of his jeans to hide any hint of nerves. "But I can use some company. Would ye be kind enough to indulge me over a chess game?"

"Of course," The shorter man smiled benignly. "I'll get the board. And a couple of beers."

Jamie stood waiting by one the marble-cladded, low-rise staircases that led to the pub. Fearing that he'd be left in the silence with his thoughts for long, Jamie wished for John to come by sooner.

"No digging." He murmured to himself as the cool September breeze blew softly behind him. His hand was just on top of his pockets, feeling the lump his phone made against it. "Dinna dig for your phone. Dinna ever." But he found himself helplessly scrolling through his camera roll a minute later, stopping to watch a video he had managed to record earlier that day.

 _"KitKat!"_ The recorded sound blared from his phone too loudly that Jamie immediately clicked on the side buttons to keep it down.

One of the two lasses—the one with the short hair—beamed towards her mother with alacrity and sheer joy. _"We're good girls, Bree!"_

 _"Good girls, you truly are!"_ The twins' mother, Claire, sweetly affirmed as she stooped down to her waist to hand each girl a chocolate. _"Here's one for Bree, and one for Faith!"_ The tone was playful and enthusiastic, he thought, as he listened to the recording; although he could not see her face from the angle of his phone camera, the way her lips curved into a delighted expression and how her eyes twinkled in the sunlight that bounced inside the playtent was still vividly etched in Jamie's head.

 _"Thank you, Mommy!"_ Said the two girls in unison before asking for a 'kiss-kiss'. What was it? He wondered. Jamie didn't quite understand what that meant until he'd seen Claire rest her lips on their foreheads, which he thought was an endearing gesture more than it was instinct. In the background noise, little Roger and Marsali called for the twins to play with them while they still had time, which also translated to when the parents were still not around.

_"Alright, go along, and if you're kind enough to share your KitKat bars with your friends!"_

_"We will!"_ They hollered dismissively, their bright hair bobbing as they both skipped towards their two pals waiting for them by the yurt's exit. Jamie's camera angle was sloppy, as he'd kept it hidden, but it never missed the important parts.

Claire tucked a few tufts of her wild curls behind her ear as she walked towards the exit. _"Mommy will catch up with you, oh. Wait a second,"_

The video stopped just when Claire had begun to tilt her head an inch to the side. Jamie only managed to record up until that point, fearing that if he delved in too much it would get him into big trouble. He'd already taken photos of the girls by the rabbit farm, and that could have been enough, but a video? Without their consent? What would she think of him if she'd seen him pointing his phone's camera towards her?

Jamie thought himself a madman for keeping a video. But he knew he had to. He wanted to.

He _needed_ to.

Faith, he recalled her name, wasn't this enthusiastic when he first met her by the Leoch's entrance; just like any other bairn during their first day in school, wee Faith made the traditional child's caterwaul at the sight of strangers coming in and out of an entirely new environment. The other sister seemed to feel the same kind of fear too, but having to deal with a number of recalcitrant children over the past years as a kindergarten teacher, Jamie knew a nervous child when he sees one, and Brianna, albeit being sturdy as a tree, had given him the most expressive pair of fearful blue eyes.

The moment they both locked gazes, it actually did make him feel nervous for some reason, not because he feared her, but because—

"Beers, check." John's voice trooped to his direction, along with the clanking of bottles and wooden chess pieces. Jamie quickly hid the phone back in his pocket at the sound of somebody nearing him. "Chessboard, check. Opponent?"

"Aye, check. He's here." Jamie leaned to greet the man with a forced smile as he made his way beside him, just as soon as he had settled the bottles and the board on the higher stair. "Ready to beat ye. Again."

John scoffed. "Cheeky bastard."

The two men proceeded with the match immediately, right after deciding over a flip-coin who plays white. John always had his chessboard with him at the bar; it was a family antique which had proven itself to come in handy whenever his brother Hal wanted a game by the counter. Now that his brother had been relocated to London for work, he was happy that he had found yet another worthy competitor in Jamie—and a challenging one, to boot. To add to that note, the red-haired Scotsman had won majority of the matches since their fast friendship had begun that John could keep track of his wins with only one hand.

Once the match had been decided, with John playing white with King's Pawn Opening, they both had their eyes intently locked on each other's chessmen, barely touching the beers standing by their side of the board.

"Check," Jamie wryly declared after a few minutes of quiet battle. He had positioned his black rook in the White King's unguarded line. "Canna move when my queen's also down that tile, can ye?" John had also noticed that; not only his king was guarded by the queen down the slanted path, but another rook was up and eager to devour John's chess piece three tiles away from Jamie's less-restricted queen. The opponent had indeed barred every possible tile for his most important piece to move about. Finally conceding, John made an exasperated sigh and raised his two fingers above the tall king chessman, slowly knocking it off its sturdy rest on the board.

"Mate. God, you son of a bitch. Must you beat me every single time?" John tapped on the side of the board, making Jamie's remaining pieces shudder against the surface. He slowly lifted his eyes towards the sad-looking white pieces standing by Jamie's ale bottle, which all of a sudden, disappeared as the man lifted it from the marble stair. "I suppose you're feeling better now that you've earned yourself another win."

Jamie gulped down the bottle's contents down his throat before answering. "Aye, for a few seconds, I thought I would dwell in that sense of victory. But now I feel all the more perturbed. I think I lost. Ye've no' helped me at all, John." He was laughing at himself as he stared towards the white king enclosed by three of his own chess pieces in black. While the black king had been securely stationed at he far end of the board, he had managed to trap the opponent with his two rooks, and his own queen.

"I suppose this isn't entirely a win for you, then." It didn't take long for John Grey to understand his friend's current predicament. Finally deciding that one game was enough for the night, John initiated in gathering the ivory and black chessmen back to the board, piece by piece. "I guess, with all the talk at the bar, and this...you mean to say you have finally found them?"

The other man looked towards John with a stolid gaze. "I," He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, as if to retract the words. Then he opened it once more. "I didna find them, mind, I'm not even sure if it's them."

"Angus mentioned they looked like you, didn't he?"

"Aye, ye heard that right. But it's no' something anybody can tell unless they knew about what had happened. Without proof, it's naught but coincidence." Jamie shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to relax as he was being probed to revisit today's haunting observations. "I would have considered it a relief that none of the teachers in Leoch kens about me, or rather where I was years ago. If any of them did know about my circumstance, they would have given me something worse than the taunting."

"And what could be far worse than the taunting and the banters? The whole crosstalk earlier already sounded as if they knew, even if they did not." John made sure his tone was calm and understanding, and not intrusive in any way. He could take even the most nonsensical Scottish grumble for an answer if his friend thought it to be the only remark he could possibly give; all that John cared about now was that for what it's worth, Jamie Fraser was standing in the middle of two parallel lines of both joy and sorrow, and he needed to get out from that warbling confusion by talking.

Jamie felt the need to look up to the starry sky—beautiful in its vastness and immensity—probably searching for some answers when he himself had nothing to give. Seeing that the heavens didn't give him the help he needed, he made a weary growl as he faced John. "I dinna ken what else could be worse than that... Unnecessary attention, maybe? I just have an idea it would be big trouble, ye ken, if I, well, went closer, erm, to the truth, but I want to..." Jamie shook his head dismissively, as though it would help in nullifying his previous statements. "I've...told you how much I've wanted to know about it, haven't I? How the wondering doesna disappear? To at least ken who they were, what they looked like, or if they were being cared for. Did they take after me? In the good ways or the bad? Those kinds o' things."

John chuckled. "They might be hot-headed like you. Something like that?"

"Aye. Something like that," and somewhere in the air that lingered, he thought of the short tantrums of a little girl named Faith, and the silent, ingoing reluctance of her sister Brianna. "Some people would say anybody could live on as though it didna happen at all but...it's no' like that for everyone. Not for me."

"Because you knew." John continued for him.

Jamie nodded. He blinked down to check whether he still had any of his beer left, and seeing none, he continued. "The thought comes in everyday. The wanting. Or was it guilt in disguise? The guilt of never having to raise them? I'm no' that sure what it is that I'd feel whenever I'd think of them."

"I had been living wi' that for five years, ever since I received a phone call about...them, being born." Jamie went on, and as John maintained his role as the man's faithful listener, he could see his friend's troubled expression turn into a wistful smile, blue eyes twinkling. Probably quiet tears? He couldn't tell, not in the dark. "When I saw those two lasses today, God, John. If you had seen them wi' your own eyes. I have a—"

 _No,_ Jamie firmly gripped on his pocket, fighting the urge to show that prized video on his phone. _No. No. No._

He tiredly shrank back on where he roosted, and John took that little bit of information in before speaking.

"I'm sorry it had to happen this way, Jamie. Seems to me that fate has pulled yet another one of its vile tricks on you, just one among the many other ways it has caused you trouble." John said, resting both his elbows against his own thighs. Looking back at the sullen-looking man, he raised a hand and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "But as much as you claim yourself to be close to the truth, you can never reach that pivotal information, and we have to accept that. You can never tell if those twins in your class were actually them, much more find it out yourself. None of us can make of how they look like, heck, we'll never know. Unless of course they try to reach out to you when the right time comes. When they turn eighteen."

Jamie looked past the gentle hand that had rested on his shoulder. "Thirteen more years, then?"

"You don't have to know. And you don't have to wait either. Remember? That's how it works." John assuaged, hand still on Jamie's shoulder. "You can't afford to be an Icarus now. If you try to fly too close to it, you'd end up causing trouble. The presence of those two girls in your class may have just been...a distraction. You said so yourself, anything without proof is pure coincidence. You may have just been caught off-guard by their presence, yes, but you can approach them without hoping too much on the truth, can't you?." He scooted a little bit closer. "You could live your life free from that guilt, Jamie. Do live your life this time, whether it's here or back in Scotland. You said you'd be going home in a year, haven't you?"

It took Jamie a moment to reply with a soundless nod.

"Yes, I know. I know It is natural to long and desire for that. I believe it helps too, seeing someone that matches the description of an unknown ideal helps with the imagination. It fills the void that's been long empty inside you."

"Aye,"

"But you can't simply throw away the future because of what has taken place in the past. Those kids, well, whoever and wherever they are now, whether we like it or not, they are going to live their whole lives not knowing you as their father." Jamie didn't like the sound of the truth coming out from John's lips, but he had to nod at that. "Maybe it's about time you lived your life away from that regret, my friend. If you can't live as though it never happened, perhaps you could be a little bit kind to yourself by helping other kids, which, I know fully well you're doing a good job at. Kindergarten and such," John said in a rather hopeful tone. "It's not like you've wronged them for not being there while they were growing up, since it really isn't your responsibility, is it? You had given them away. Their parents must love them so much they were willing to pay upwards of about a thousand dollars just to have them, so trust me. They're in good hands."

It was regretfully a fact, and although Jamie still have not quite reconciled with this infallible case, he was thankful to have someone shed some light on the matter.

"Or, find love, if that even helps." John suddenly snickered, tilting his head towards him. "I heard earlier you have the hots for a certain single mother back in Leoch?"

"Ah, I dinna ken." Though Jamie knew exactly. He made a chesty laugh, "Here I am, thinking I had finally managed to escape the teasing inside the bar. And now you're beginning to sound like Rupert."

"Oh dear, that's not what I intended to happen but, who knows? She's got twins too. Badly in need of a father-figure, I suspect." The two men laughed, but the other one was clearly blushing beneath his red hair. "Tell me now, Jamie. Do you like her because of the kids?"

Jamie turned towards the heavens again, and at his astonishment, he spotted a shooting star speeding across the night sky.

"I like the lass just because." He smiled. "Just because."

The conversation he shared with John was his very first thought the moment he met her again by Leoch's entryway on a Thursday morning. Today, she decided to bunch her wild brown curls up in a messy bun, while the two little lasses trailed behind her, auburn hair disheveled and unkempt obviously from a thirty-minute ride to Wellesley with the windows open. As soon as she had caught sight of him, her tired morning face brightened up in to greet him with a smile. "Look, loves! It's Mr. Jamie!" She grinned towards the girls, who, at the sight of the said man, bounced to greet him by Leoch's doorstep.

"Please take us to see the _bunnies,_ Mr. Jamie! _"_ Faith tugged on his khakis impatiently, while Brianna, although silent, found it more convenient to punch, or rather _slam_ her hand repeatedly, against his thigh. Claire was scampering to the stairs in an attempt to stop them when he immediately hovered down to greet the girls with a warm hug.

"Alright, alright. Ye'll get to see the bunnies later, lass." Jamie placed a hand against his chest, just above his heart. "I promise ye will later. But och! How come ye've come so early in the morning? The wee rabbits are all asleep, have ye come to wake them up?" He looked up to their flustered mother, who was sheepishly scratching the back of her ear at the question.

"They were really looking forward to school," Claire confessed. "I can't blame them for wanting to come early."

"It's really way too early, Sassenach." Jamie maintained his attention towards her, in spite of the two energetic little girls beneath him. "Ye've got two more hours before the parents come by wi' their bairns."

"Oh," she blinked. Looking around the place, it finally dawned on her how Leoch was completely quiet, free from running kids and the chatter of adults. All that was left to hear were the occasional clucking and quacking of both chickens and ducks, and the distant neighing of horses beyond the reception area. "But then, why are you here? Do you live here?"

"Ah. No," Jamie stood up to face her. "I believe I told ye about me also being a stable hand in this farm. Remember? The time when we met by the parking lot?"

"I do, I...just didn't think you were serious. So you do quite a lot of work then, huh."  
  
He smiled. "Well, no' much, but just enough to ken my back's still strong. I tend to the horses, the animals, an' such. That's why I'm here early most o' the time, if not always." He looked down to the two girls, who had been quietly paying attention. Jamie smiled towards them and stretched out his hands to illustrate a big creature. "I visit Sleepy every morning, was what I was trying to say." He then brought his arms closer to a smaller distance, something that would have looked as though he was carrying an invisible bunny. "And the wee rabbits too, checking on them while they're still fast asleep. They're verra quiet when they do."

Eyes were bright at the name of the animals. It made both him and Claire grin from ear to ear, only that she was smiling more at the animated gestures he did for Faith and Bree.

"Like what Mr. Jamie said, the rabbits are still fast asleep. Perhaps we could grab some snacks before we greet them a good morning?" Claire announced. "Sorry, Jamie, is there a restaurant or a fastfood chain nearby?"

He scratched his head as he looked past the Leoch archway. "Er... There's a cafe two blocks from the corner by the gate. And a pizza place too, but I doubt the pizza's open around this time. They usually are up and about by nine, so I'd vouch for the cafe."

"Perfect, then." Claire smiled, still looking at him. "Would you want anything? A snack, perhaps?"

"Dinna worry yerself for me, I can manage—"

"No, really. I'd love to get you something. For the hard work," She offered again, this time glancing towards the two other red-haired individuals whirling beneath them. "What do you think we should get our kind Mr. Jamie? A perfect snack that could suit a strong man like him?"

"A waffle. Many waffles." Brianna studied him with her brows furrowed. "And maple syrup."

"And _superhero_ drink!" Faith beamed. "The one you always _drink_ , Mommy."

Jamie caught Claire's amber orbs staring at him. "Superhero drink, what's that?"

"You'll know when we come back." She grinned before hurriedly gathering the two girls with her to the car, while giving the little ones a soft, motherly explanation on why they were leaving all so suddenly and that they'll be coming back after a few hours.

Perhaps this was better than having to burden himself with the past, Jamie thought.

Maybe he could really live in the moment without hoping for anything, or without thinking whether a child he would encounter could be his or not.

Maybe the phone call was enough.

Maybe it was more than enough to know that his kids, whoever and wherever they may be, were existing—that somewhere, the two souls he had helped bring into the world were living and breathing in the presence of people who loved them dearly, and he ought to be nothing but grateful for that.

Maybe it was indeed possible to live past it, and begin to break free from what has kept him out of touch with the world.

"Sorry!" He briskly glanced up to see Claire yelling towards him, hands waving to get his attention. She had already reached her car at that point. "Are you a brewed coffee kind of person or...do you want it iced?"

"Brewed!" Jamie crossed his arms, amused at her. "I now ken what superhero drink is, Sassenach."

She shot her a friendly smile before settling her two little girls in the car's back seats. It didn't take long for her to drive away beyond the picket fences and disappear at the gate, leaving Jamie back where he'd been before she came.

"Aye," he said to himself as he took in the quietness of the farm, before taking his phone out from his pockets again.

The video had been on its twenty-sixth loop today, as he had been watching it on repeat since he started lounging by the lobby, just before he saw that familiar silver car speeding towards the parking lot. Pressing the Delete button, and then deleting it all over again in the recycling folder, Jamie had decided it would be the last time he'd hope for anything concerning the two unknown souls that thrived mostly in his imagination.

_It's not like you've wronged them for not being there while they were growing up, since it really isn't your responsibility, is it? You had given them away._

"That's just what complicates things, John." Jamie whispered, regret seeping in knowing that the video was now gone, forever.

"I never gave them away."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- somebody tell this moody boi how a phone has a Back Up and Sync option, just in case he makes a brash decision in deleting stuff on his phone lol


End file.
